Fragmentation and quark distribution functions for the pion and kaon with explicit flavor-SU(3)-symmetry breaking

We investigate the unpolarized pion and kaon fragmentation functions, employing the nonlocal chiral-quark model, which manifests the nonlocal interactions between the quarks and pseudoscalar mesons, considering the explicit flavor-SU(3)-symmetry breaking in terms of the current-quark masses. Moreover, we study the quark-distribution functions, derived from the fragmentation ones with the Drell-Yan-Levi relation. Numerical results are evaluated to higher Q^2 by the DGLAP evolution and compared with the empirical data. The ratios between the relevant valance quark-distribution functions are also discussed. It turns out that the present results are in relatively good agreement with available data and other theoretical estimations.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figure

Twist-3 pion and kaon distribution amplitudes from the instanton vacuum with flavor SU(3) symmetry breaking

We investigate the twist-3 pion and kaon distribution amplitudes of the pseudoscalar (phi^p_{pi,K}) and pseudotensor (phi^{sigma}_{pi,K}) types, based on the effective chiral action from the instanton vacuum. Effects of flavor SU(3) symmetry breaking are explicitly taken into account. The Gegenbauer moments and the moments of the distribution amplitudes () are also computed. Our results are summarized as follows: a^p_{2,pi} ~ 0.4, a^p_{1,K} ~ 0.02 and a^p_{2,K} ~ 0.14, and a^{sigma}_{2,pi} ~ 0.02 and a^{sigma}_{1,K} ~ a^{sigma}_{2,K} ~ 0; ^p_{\pi} ~ ^p_K ~ 0.37 and ^p_K ~ 0, and ^{sigma}_{pi} ~ ^{sigma}_K ~ 0.20 and ^{sigma}_K ~ 0. We compare our results with those from the QCD sum rules. We also discuss the relevant Wilson coefficients which were analyzed recently in chiral perturbation theory.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in PR

Indirect induction of radiation lymphomas in mice. Evidence for a novel, transmissible leukemogen.

The transmission of a lymphomagenic agent(s) from the bone marrow of irradiated mice to thymic target cells has been demonstrated by: (a) the induction of T cell lymphomas in nonirradiated thymic grafts implanted in irradiated, Thy-l-congenic mice, (b) the induction of T cell lymphomas of host origin in mice infused with bone marrow from irradiated, Thy-l-congenic donors. The latter procedure also yields an appreciable number of pre-B cell lymphomas of uncertain origin. The results confirm Kaplan's theory that radiation induces thymic lymphomas in mice by an indirect mechanism. However, the previously described radiation leukemia virus is clearly not involved in the majority of transferred lymphomas. We propose that the mediating agent in radiation lymphomagenesis is a novel, transmissible agent induced in the bone marrow, but exerting its transforming activity on cells in the thymus. The nature and mode of action of the agent are under investigation

Chiral restoration at finite temperature with meson loop corrections

We investigate chiral-restoration patterns of QCD for N_{c}=3 and N_{f}=2 at finite temperature (T) and zero quark-chemical potential beyond the chiral limit, indicating the explicit chiral-symmetry breaking. To this end, we employ the instanton-vacuum configuration for the flavor SU(2) sector and the Harrington-Shepard caloron for modifying relevant instanton parameters as functions of T. The meson-loop corrections (MLC), which correspond to 1/N_{c} corrections, are also taken into account to reproduce appropriate m_{q} dependences of chiral order parameters. We compute chiral condensate as a function of T and/or m_{q}. From the numerical calculations, we observe that MLC play an important role to have a correct universality-class behavior of chiral-restoration patterns in this framework, depending on m_{q}: Second-order phase transition in the chiral limit, m_{q}=0 and crossover for m_{q}>0. Without MLC, all the restoration patterns are crossover, due to simple saddle-point approximations. It turns out that T^{\chi}_{c}=159 MeV in the chiral limit and T^{\chi}_{c}=(177,186,196) MeV for m_{q}=(5,10,15) MeV, using the phenomenological choices for the instanton parameters at T=0.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Maximising the value of electricity storage

Grid-scale energy storage promises to reduce the cost of decarbonising electricity, but is not yet economically viable. Either costs must fall, or revenue must be extracted from more of the services that storage provides the electricity system. To help understand the economic prospects for storage, we review the sources of revenue available and the barriers faced in accessing them. We then demonstrate a simple algorithm that maximises the profit from storage providing arbitrage with reserve under both perfect and no foresight, which avoids complex linear programming techniques. This is made open source and freely available to help promote further research. We demonstrate that battery systems in the UK could triple their profits by participating in the reserve market rather than just providing arbitrage. With no foresight of future prices, 75-95% of the optimal profits are gained. In addition, we model a battery combined with a 322 MW wind farm to evaluate the benefits of shifting time of delivery. The revenues currently available are not sufficient to justify the current investment costs for battery technologies, and so further revenue streams and cost reductions are required

Effect of prednisolone on inflammatory markers in pericardial tuberculosis: A pilot study

Background: Pericardial disorders are a common cause of heart disease, and the most common cause of pericarditis in developing countries is tuberculous (TB) pericarditis. It has been shown that prednisolone added to standard anti-TB therapy leads to a lower rate of constrictive pericarditis. We conducted a pilot study to evaluate the effect of adjunctive prednisolone treatment on the concentration of inflammatory markers in pericardial tuberculosis, in order to inform immunological mechanisms at the disease site. Methods: Pericardial fluid, plasma and saliva samples were collected from fourteen patients with pericardial tuberculosis, at multiple time points. Inflammatory markers were measured using multiplex luminex analysis and ELISA. Results: In samples from 14 patients we confirmed a strongly compartmentalized immune response at the disease site and found that prednisolone significantly reduced IL-6 concentrations in plasma by 8 hours of treatment, IL-1beta concentrations in saliva, as well as IL-8 concentrations in both pericardial fluid and saliva by 24 hours. Conclusion: Monitoring the early effect of adjunctive immunotherapy in plasma or saliva is a possibility in pericarditis

Mediating effect of self-esteem on the career selfmanagement and career resilience of early-career staff in the business management field

Companies striving to retain their competitive edge in a highly turbulent business environment are redirecting their performance and career management systems to develop and retain their talent pipeline. The study examines the mediating effect of general selfesteem on the link between the career self-management and career resilience of a non-probability sample of 304 early-career employees in the business management field. A cross-sectional quantitative survey design was followed, collecting primary data. Data analyses consisted of an analysis of correlations and a simple mediation model. The results revealed signifi cant direct and indirect effects between the variables. General self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between career self-management and career resilience. These findings contribute new knowledge that informs organisational performance and career management practices for the retention of talented staff members.Key words: self-esteem, organisational career management, career self-management, career resilienc

Heavy pseudoscalar-meson decay constants with strangeness from the extended nonlocal chiral-quark model

We study the weak-decay constants for the heavy pseudoscalar mesons, D, Ds, B, and Bs. For this purpose, we employ the extended nonlocal chiral-quark model (ExNLChQM), motivated by the heavy-quark effective field theory as well as the instanton-vacuum configuration. In addition to the heavy-quark symmetry and the nonlocal interactions between quarks and pseudoscalar mesons in ExNLChQM, a correction for the strange-quark content inside Ds and Bs is also taken into account and found to be crucial to reproduce the empirical values. From those numerical results, we obtain f_{D,Ds,B,Bs}=(207.53, 262.56, 208.13, 262.39) MeV, which are in good agreement with experimental data and other theoretical estimations. Using those numerical results, we compute the CKM matrix elements and the Cabibbo angle, using various mesonic and leptonic heavy-meson decay channels, resulting in (|V_{cd}|,|V_{cs}|,|V_{ub}|,|V_{td}|/|V_{ts}|)=(0.224,0.968,<5.395*10^{-3},0.215) and theta_C=12.36^o which are well compatible with available data.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Mod. Phys. Lett.