129 research outputs found
Pathogenic Potential to Humans of Bovine Escherichia coli O26, Scotland
Escherichia coli O26 and O157 have similar overall prevalences in cattle in Scotland, but in humans, Shiga toxin–producing E. coli O26 infections are fewer and clinically less severe than E. coli O157 infections. To investigate this discrepancy, we genotyped E. coli O26 isolates from cattle and humans in Scotland and continental Europe. The genetic background of some strains from Scotland was closely related to that of strains causing severe infections in Europe. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling found an association between hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and multilocus sequence type 21 strains and confirmed the role of stx<sub>2</sub> in severe human disease. Although the prevalences of E. coli O26 and O157 on cattle farms in Scotland are equivalent, prevalence of more virulent strains is low, reducing human infection risk. However, new data on E. coli O26–associated HUS in humans highlight the need for surveillance of non-O157 enterohemorrhagic E. coli and for understanding stx<sub>2</sub> phage acquisition
Finite sum of gluon ladders and high energy cross sections
A model for the Pomeron at is suggested. It is based on the idea of a
finite sum of ladder diagrams in QCD. Accordingly, the number of -channel
gluon rungs and correspondingly the powers of logarithms in the forward
scattering amplitude depends on the phase space (energy) available, i.e. as
energy increases, progressively new prongs with additional gluon rungs in the
-channel open. Explicit expressions for the total cross section involving
two and three rungs or, alternatively, three and four prongs (with
and as highest terms, respectively) are fitted to the proton-proton
and proton-antiproton total cross section data in the accelerator region. Both
QCD calculation and fits to the data indicate fast convergence of the series.
In the fit, two terms (a constant and a logarithmically rising one) almost
saturate the whole series, the term being small and the next one,
, negligible. Theoretical predictions for the photon-photon total
cross section are also given.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, 2 EPS figures, uses axodraw.st
Nonperturbative Effects in Gluon Radiation and Photoproduction of Quark Pairs
We introduce a nonperturbative interaction for light-cone fluctuations
containing quarks and gluons. The interaction squeezes the transverse
size of these fluctuations in the photon and one does not need to simulate this
effect via effective quark masses. The strength of this interaction is fixed by
data. Data on diffractive dissociation of hadrons and photons show that the
nonperturbative interaction of gluons is much stronger. We fix the parameters
for the nonperturbative quark-gluon interaction by data for diffractive
dissociation to large masses (triple-Pomeron regime). This allows us to predict
nuclear shadowing for gluons which turns out to be not as strong as
perturbative QCD predicts. We expect a delayed onset of gluon shadowing at shadowing of quarks. Gluon shadowing turns out to be nearly scale
invariant up to virtualities due to presence of a semihard
scale characterizing the strong nonperturbative interaction of gluons. We use
the same concept to improve our description of gluon bremsstrahlung which is
related to the distribution function for a quark-gluon fluctuation and the
interaction cross section of a fluctuation with a nucleon. We expect
the nonperturbative interaction to suppress dramatically the gluon radiation at
small transverse momenta compared to perturbative calculations.Comment: 58 pages of Latex including 11 figures. Shadowing for soft gluons and
Fig. 6 are added as well as a few reference
Coherent QCD phenomena in the Coherent Pion-Nucleon and Pion-Nucleus Production of Two Jets at High Relative Momenta
We use QCD to compute the cross section for coherent production of a di-jet
(treated as a moving at high relative transverse momentum,). In the target rest frame,the space-time evolution of this reaction is
dominated by the process in which the high component of
the pion wave function is formed before reaching the target. It then interacts
through two gluon exchange. In the approximation of keeping the leading order
in powers of and all orders in
the amplitudes for other processes are
shown to be smaller at least by a power of . The resulting dominant
amplitude is proportional to ( is the fraction
light-cone(+)momentum carried by the quark in the final state) times the skewed
gluon distribution of the target. For the pion scattering by a nuclear target,
this means that at fixed (but ) the nuclear process in which there is only a single interaction is the
most important one to contribute to the reaction. Thus in this limit color
transparency phenomena should occur.These findings are in accord with E971
experiment at FNAL. We also re-examine a potentially important nuclear multiple
scattering correction which is positive and . The
meaning of the signal obtained from the experimental measurement of pion
diffraction into two jets is also critically examined and significant
corrections are identified.We show also that for values of achieved
at fixed target energies, di-jet production by the e.m. field of the nucleus
leads to an insignificant correction which gets more important as
increases.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figure
Interchange Slip-Running Reconnection and Sweeping SEP Beams
We present a new model to explain how particles (solar energetic particles;
SEPs), accelerated at a reconnection site that is not magnetically connected to
the Earth, could eventually propagate along the well-connected open flux tube.
Our model is based on the results of a low-beta resistive magnetohydrodynamics
simulation of a three-dimensional line-tied and initially current-free bipole,
that is embedded in a non-uniform open potential field. The topology of this
configuration is that of an asymmetric coronal null-point, with a closed fan
surface and an open outer spine. When driven by slow photospheric shearing
motions, field lines, initially fully anchored below the fan dome, reconnect at
the null point, and jump to the open magnetic domain. This is the standard
interchange mode as sketched and calculated in 2D. The key result in 3D is
that, reconnected open field lines located in the vicinity of the outer spine,
keep reconnecting continuously, across an open quasi-separatrix layer, as
previously identified for non-open-null-point reconnection. The apparent
slipping motion of these field lines leads to form an extended narrow magnetic
flux tube at high altitude. Because of the slip-running reconnection, we
conjecture that if energetic particles would be traveling through, or be
accelerated inside, the diffusion region, they would be successively injected
along continuously reconnecting field lines that are connected farther and
farther from the spine. At the scale of the full Sun, owing to the super-radial
expansion of field lines below 3 solar radii, such energetic particles could
easily be injected in field lines slipping over significant distances, and
could eventually reach the distant flux tube that is well-connected to the
Earth
The Science of Sungrazers, Sunskirters, and Other Near-Sun Comets
This review addresses our current understanding of comets that venture close to the Sun, and are hence exposed to much more extreme conditions than comets that are typically studied from Earth. The extreme solar heating and plasma environments that these objects encounter change many aspects of their behaviour, thus yielding valuable information on both the comets themselves that complements other data we have on primitive solar system bodies, as well as on the near-solar environment which they traverse. We propose clear definitions for these comets: We use the term near-Sun comets to encompass all objects that pass sunward of the perihelion distance of planet Mercury (0.307 AU). Sunskirters are defined as objects that pass within 33 solar radii of the Sun’s centre, equal to half of Mercury’s perihelion distance, and the commonly-used phrase sungrazers to be objects that reach perihelion within 3.45 solar radii, i.e. the fluid Roche limit. Finally, comets with orbits that intersect the solar photosphere are termed sundivers. We summarize past studies of these objects, as well as the instruments and facilities used to study them, including space-based platforms that have led to a recent revolution in the quantity and quality of relevant observations. Relevant comet populations are described, including the Kreutz, Marsden, Kracht, and Meyer groups, near-Sun asteroids, and a brief discussion of their origins. The importance of light curves and the clues they provide on cometary composition are emphasized, together with what information has been gleaned about nucleus parameters, including the sizes and masses of objects and their families, and their tensile strengths. The physical processes occurring at these objects are considered in some detail, including the disruption of nuclei, sublimation, and ionisation, and we consider the mass, momentum, and energy loss of comets in the corona and those that venture to lower altitudes. The different components of comae and tails are described, including dust, neutral and ionised gases, their chemical reactions, and their contributions to the near-Sun environment. Comet-solar wind interactions are discussed, including the use of comets as probes of solar wind and coronal conditions in their vicinities. We address the relevance of work on comets near the Sun to similar objects orbiting other stars, and conclude with a discussion of future directions for the field and the planned ground- and space-based facilities that will allow us to address those science topics
Onset of Perturbative Color Opacity at Small x and Upsilon Coherent Photoproduction off heavy nuclei at LHC
We study photon-induced coherent production of Upsilon in ultraperipheral
heavy ion collisions at LHC and demonstrate that the counting rates will be
sufficient to measure nuclear shadowing of generalized gluon distributions.
This will establish the transition from the regime of color transparency to the
regime of perturbative color opacity in an unambiguous way. We argue that such
measurements will provide the possibility to investigate the interaction of
ultra-small color dipoles with nuclei in QCD at large energies, which are
beyond the reach of the electron-nucleon (nucleus) colliders, and will
unambiguously discriminate between the leading twist and higher twist scenarios
of gluon nuclear shadowing.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
Stress testing and non-invasive coronary angiography in patients with suspected coronary artery disease: time for a new paradigm
Diagnosis and management of coronary artery disease represents major challenges to our health care system, affecting millions of patients each year. Until recently, the diagnosis of coronary artery disease was possible only through cardiac catheterization and invasive coronary angiography. To avoid the risks of an invasive procedure, stress testing is often employed for an initial assessment of patients with suspected coronary artery disease, serving as a gatekeeper for cardiac catheterization. With the emergence of non-invasive coronary angiography, the question arises if such a strategy is still sensible, particularly, in view of only a modest agreement between stress testing results and the presence of coronary artery disease established by cardiac catheterization. Much data in support of the diagnostic accuracy and prognostic value of non-invasive coronary angiography by computed tomography have emerged within the last few years. These data challenge the role of stress testing as the initial imaging modality in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. This article reviews the clinical utility, limitations, as well as the hazards of stress testing compared with non-invasive coronary artery imaging by computed tomography. Finally, the implications of this review are discussed in relation to clinical practice
Clustered mutations in the GRIK2 kainate receptor subunit gene underlie diverse neurodevelopmental disorders
Kainate receptors (KARs) are glutamate-gated cation channels with diverse roles in the central nervous system. Bi-allelic loss of function of the KAR-encoding gene GRIK2 causes a nonsyndromic neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) with intellectual disability and developmental delay as core features. The extent to which mono-allelic variants in GRIK2 also underlie NDDs is less understood because only a single individual has been reported previously. Here, we describe an additional eleven individuals with heterozygous de novo variants in GRIK2 causative for neurodevelopmental deficits that include intellectual disability. Five children harbored recurrent de novo variants (three encoding p.Thr660Lys and two p.Thr660Arg), and four children and one adult were homozygous for a previously reported variant (c.1969G>A [p.Ala657Thr]). Individuals with shared variants had some overlapping behavioral and neurological dysfunction, suggesting that the GRIK2 variants are likely pathogenic. Analogous mutations introduced into recombinant GluK2 KAR subunits at sites within the M3 transmembrane domain (encoding p.Ala657Thr, p.Thr660Lys, and p.Thr660Arg) and the M3-S2 linker domain (encoding p.Ile668Thr) had complex effects on functional properties and membrane localization of homomeric and heteromeric KARs. Both p.Thr660Lys and p.Thr660Arg mutant KARs exhibited markedly slowed gating kinetics, similar to p.Ala657Thr-containing receptors. Moreover, we observed emerging genotype-phenotype correlations, including the presence of severe epilepsy in individuals with the p.Thr660Lys variant and hypomyelination in individuals with either the p.Thr660Lys or p.Thr660Arg variant. Collectively, these results demonstrate that human GRIK2 variants predicted to alter channel function are causative for early childhood development disorders and further emphasize the importance of clarifying the role of KARs in early nervous system development.Genetics of disease, diagnosis and treatmen
Clustered mutations in the GRIK2 kainate receptor subunit gene underlie diverse neurodevelopmental disorders (vol 108, pg 1692, 2021)
Neurolog
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