79 research outputs found
Effect of Finite Granularity of Detectors on Anisotropy Coefficients
The coefficients that describe the anisotropy in the azimuthal distribution
of particles are lower when the particles are recorded in a detector with
finite granularity and measures only hits. This arises due to loss of
information because of multiple hits in any channel. The magnitude of this loss
of signal depends both on the occupancy and on the value of the coefficient.
These correction factors are obtained for analysis methods differing in detail,
and are found to be different.Comment: 11 pages including 2 figure
Flow effects on the freeze-out phase-space density in heavy ion collisions
The strong longitudinal expansion of the reaction zone formed in relativistic
heavy-ion collisions is found to significantly reduce the spatially averaged
pion phase-space density, compared to naive estimates based on thermal
distributions. This has important implications for data interpretation and
leads to larger values for the extracted pion chemical potential at kinetic
freeze-out.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures included via epsfig, added discussion of different
transverse density profiles, 1 new figur
Hydrodynamics near the QCD Phase Transition: Looking for the Longest-Lived Fireball
We propose a new strategy for the experimental search of the QCD phase
transition in heavy ion collisions: One may tune collision energy around the
point where the lifetime of the fireball is expected to be longest. We
demonstrate that the hydrodynamic evolution of excited nuclear matter does
change dramatically as the initial energy density goes through the "softest
point" (where the pressure to energy density ratio reaches its minimum). For
our choice of equation of state, this corresponds to epsilon_i approx. = 1.5
GeV/fm^3 and collision energy E_lab/A approx. = 30 GeV (for Au+Au). Various
observables seem to show distinct changes near the softest point.Comment: 7 pages, 3 Postscript figures (tar compressed and uuencoded)
submitte
Statistical issues and methods for meta-analysis of microarray data: a case study in prostate cancer
With the proliferation of related microarray studies by independent groups, a natural step in the analysis of these gene expression data is to combine the results across these studies. However, this raises a variety of issues in the analysis of such data. In this article, we discuss the statistical issues of combining data from multiple gene expression studies. This leads to more complications than those in standard meta-analyses, including different experimental platforms, duplicate spots and complex data structures. We illustrate these ideas using data from four prostate cancer profiling studies. In addition, we develop a simple approach for assessing differential expression using the LASSO method. A combination of the results and the pathway databases are then used to generate candidate biological pathways for cancer.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47935/1/10142_2003_Article_87.pd
Low Mannose-Binding Lectin Concentration Is Associated with Severe Infection in Patients with Hematological Cancer Who Are Undergoing Chemotherapy
Background. Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a serum lectin involved in innate immune response. Low serum MBL concentration may constitute a risk factor for infection in patients receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy. Methods. We conducted a prospective, observational study that assessed MBL concentration as a risk factor for infection in patients with hematological malignancy who were hospitalized to undergo at least 1 chemotherapy cycle. MBL deficiency was defined using an algorithm that considered the serum MBL concentration and the MBL genotype. The primary end point was the ratio of duration of febrile neutropenia to the duration of neutropenia. Secondary end points included the incidence of severe infection (e.g., sepsis, pneumonia, bacteremia, and invasive fungal infection). Logistic regression analysis was conducted, and Fisher's exact test was used to analyze binary outcomes, and Kaplan-Meier estimates and log rank tests were used for time-to-event variables. Results. We analyzed 255 patients who received 569 cycles of chemotherapy. The median duration of neutropenia per cycle was 7 days (interquartile range, 0-13 days). Sixty-two patients (24%) were found to have MBL deficiency. Febrile neutropenia occurred at least once in 200 patients. No difference in the primary outcome was seen. The incidence of severe infection was higher among MBL-deficient patients than among non-MBL-deficient patients (1.96 vs. 1.34 cases per 100 days for analysis of all patients [P = .008] and 1.85 vs. 0.94 cases per 100 days excluding patients with acute leukemia [P < .001]). Conclusions. MBL deficiency does not predispose adults with hematological cancer to more-frequent or more-prolonged febrile episodes during myelosuppressive chemotherapy, but MBL-deficient patients have a greater number of severe infections and experience their first severe infection earlier, compared with nondeficient patient
A Mean Field Theory of the Chiral Phase Transition
The recent discussions by Koci\'c and Kogut on the nature of the chiral phase
transition are reviewed. The mean-field nature of the transition suggested by
these authors is supported in random matrix theory by Verbaarschot and Jackson
which reproduces many aspects of QCD lattice simulations. In this paper, we
point out physical arguments that favor a mean-field transition, not only for
zero density and high temperature, but also for finite density. We show, using
the Gross-Neveu model in 3 spatial dimensions in mean-field approximation, how
the phase transition is constructed. In order to reproduce the lowering of the
, vacuum evaluated in lattice calculations, we introduce
{nucleons} rather than constituent quarks in negative energy states, down to a
momentum cut-off of . We also discuss Brown-Rho scaling of the hadron
masses in relation to the QCD phase transition, and how this scaling affects
the CERES and HELIOS-3 dilepton experiments.Comment: 23 pages, Latex, no figure
Optimized Discretization of Sources Imaged in Heavy-Ion Reactions
We develop the new method of optimized discretization for imaging the
relative source from two particle correlation functions. In this method, the
source resolution depends on the relative particle separation and is adjusted
to available data and their errors. We test the method by restoring assumed pp
sources and then apply the method to pp and IMF data. In reactions below 100
MeV/nucleon, significant portions of the sources extend to large distances (r >
20 fm). The results from the imaging show the inadequacy of common Gaussian
source-parametrizations. We establish a simple relation between the height of
the pp correlation function and the source value at short distances, and
between the height and the proton freeze-out phase-space density.Comment: 36 pages (inc. 9 figures), RevTeX, uses epsf.sty. Submitted to Phys.
Rev.
Azimuthal Correlations in the Target Fragmentation Region of High Energy Nuclear Collisions
Results on the target mass dependence of proton and pion pseudorapidity
distributions and of their azimuthal correlations in the target rapidity range
are presented. The data have been taken with the
Plastic-Ball detector set-up for 4.9 GeV p + Au collisions at the Berkeley
BEVALAC and for 200 GeV/ p-, O-, and S-induced reactions on
different nuclei at the CERN-SPS. The yield of protons at backward rapidities
is found to be proportional to the target mass. Although protons show a typical
``back-to-back'' correlations, a ``side-by-side'' correlation is observed for
positive pions, which increases both with target mass and with impact parameter
of a collision. The data can consistently be described by assuming strong
rescattering phenomena including pion absorption effects in the entire excited
target nucleus.Comment: 7 pages, figures included, complete postscript available at
ftp://qgp.uni-muenster.de/pub/paper/azi-correlations.ps submitted to Phys.
Lett.
Strangeness Enhancement in and Interactions at SPS Energies
The systematics of strangeness enhancement is calculated using the HIJING and
VENUS models and compared to recent data on , and
collisions at CERN/SPS energies (). The HIJING model is used to
perform a {\em linear} extrapolation from to . VENUS is used to
estimate the effects of final state cascading and possible non-conventional
production mechanisms. This comparison shows that the large enhancement of
strangeness observed in collisions, interpreted previously as possible
evidence for quark-gluon plasma formation, has its origins in non-equilibrium
dynamics of few nucleon systems. % Strangeness enhancement %is therefore traced
back to the change in the production dynamics %from to minimum bias
and central collisions. A factor of two enhancement of at
mid-rapidity is indicated by recent data, where on the average {\em one}
projectile nucleon interacts with only {\em two} target nucleons. There appears
to be another factor of two enhancement in the light ion reaction relative
to , when on the average only two projectile nucleons interact with two
target ones.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures in uuencoded postscript fil
SPHERE: the exoplanet imager for the Very Large Telescope
Observations of circumstellar environments to look for the direct signal of
exoplanets and the scattered light from disks has significant instrumental
implications. In the past 15 years, major developments in adaptive optics,
coronagraphy, optical manufacturing, wavefront sensing and data processing,
together with a consistent global system analysis have enabled a new generation
of high-contrast imagers and spectrographs on large ground-based telescopes
with much better performance. One of the most productive is the
Spectro-Polarimetic High contrast imager for Exoplanets REsearch (SPHERE)
designed and built for the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. SPHERE
includes an extreme adaptive optics system, a highly stable common path
interface, several types of coronagraphs and three science instruments. Two of
them, the Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS) and the Infra-Red Dual-band Imager
and Spectrograph (IRDIS), are designed to efficiently cover the near-infrared
(NIR) range in a single observation for efficient young planet search. The
third one, ZIMPOL, is designed for visible (VIR) polarimetric observation to
look for the reflected light of exoplanets and the light scattered by debris
disks. This suite of three science instruments enables to study circumstellar
environments at unprecedented angular resolution both in the visible and the
near-infrared. In this work, we present the complete instrument and its on-sky
performance after 4 years of operations at the VLT.Comment: Final version accepted for publication in A&
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