686 research outputs found
Identifying and characterising crashes of returning riders: A new approach
Surveys have identified that many older motorcyclists are returning riders but it is difficult to draw conclusions about their crash risk because of discrepancies in definitions and the inability to identify returning riders in official crash databases. Analyses of NSW crash data were undertaken in which returning riders were defined as aged 25 and over, holding a full licence 10 years prior to the crash, and not the registered operator of one or more motorcycles during the 5-10 years prior to the crash. Based on this definition, there were 472 riders in casualty crashes in 2005-09 who were returning riders (5.5% of riders aged 25 and over in casualty crashes) and the characteristics of their crashes were similar to those involving continuing riders. In contrast, crashes of new riders were more likely to have characteristics suggestive of relatively more riding in urban areas, probably for transport rather than recreation. More work is recommended to assess the validity of the definition to allow a better understanding of the effects of long periods away from riding on riding skills and crash risk
Azimuthal single spin asymmetries in SIDIS in the light of chiral symmetry breaking
An attempt is made to understand the z-dependence of the azimuthal single
spin asymmetries observed by the HERMES collaboration in terms of chiral models
based on effective quark and Goldstone boson degrees of freedom. The effects of
respectively neglecting and considering Gaussian intrinsic parton transverse
momenta and the Sivers effect are explored. Predictions for the transverse
target polarization experiment at HERMES are presented.Comment: 14 pages, 18 figure
Next-to-leading order QCD evolution of transversity fragmentation functions
We derive the next-to-leading order splitting kernels for the scale evolution
of fragmentation functions for transversely polarized quarks into transversely
polarized hadrons.Comment: 9 pages, LaTe
Collins effect and single spin azimuthal asymmetries in the HERMES and COMPASS experiments
Predictions are made for single spin azimuthal asymmetries due to the Collins
effect in pion production from semi-inclusive deeply inelastic scattering off
transversely and longitudinally polarized targets for the HERMES and COMPASS
experiments. The x-dependence of the asymmetries is evaluated using the parton
distribution functions from the chiral quark-soliton model. The overall
normalization of the predicted asymmetries is determined by the information on
the Collins fragmentation function extracted from previous HERMES data on
azimuthal asymmetries from a longitudinally polarized target. The single spin
asymmetries from the transversely polarized proton target are found to be about
20% for positive and neutral pions both at HERMES and COMPASS. For a
longitudinally polarized target we obtain for COMPASS a sin(phi) asymmetry of
1% and a sin(2phi) asymmetry of about 3%.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, Ref.[29] adde
Three-Quark Light-Cone Amplitudes of The Proton And Quark-Orbital-Motion Dependent Observables
We study the three-quark light-cone amplitudes of the proton including
quarks' transverse momenta. We classify these amplitudes using a
newly-developed method in which light-cone wave functions are constructed from
a class of light-cone matrix elements. We derive the constraints on the
amplitudes from parity and time-reversal symmetries. We use the amplitudes to
calculate the physical observables which vanish when the quark orbital angular
momentum is absent. These include transverse-momentum dependent parton
distributions , , , and , twist-three parton distributions
and , helicity-flip generalized parton distributions and its associates, and the Pauli form factor .Comment: 20 pages, no figur
Evaluation of a synthetic single-crystal diamond detector for relative dosimetry on the Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion radiosurgery system
Purpose: To evaluate the new commercial PTW-60019 synthetic single-crystal microDiamond detector (PTW, Freiburg, Germany) for relative dosimetry measurements on a clinical Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion radiosurgery system. Methods: Detector output ratios (DORs) for 4 and 8 mm beams were measured using a micro- Diamond (PTW-60019), a stereotactic unshielded diode [IBA stereotactic field detector (SFD)], a shielded diode (IBA photon field detector), and GafChromic EBT3 films. Both parallel and transversal acquisition directions were considered for PTW-60019 measurements. Measured DORs were compared to the new output factor reference values for Gamma Knife Perfexion (0.814 and 0.900 for 4 and 8 mm, respectively). Profiles in the three directions were also measured for the 4 mm beam to evaluate full width at half maximum (FWHM) and penumbra and to compare them with the corresponding Leksell GammaPlan profiles. Results: FWHM and penumbra for PTW-60019 differed from the calculated values by less than 0.2 and 0.3 mm, for the parallel and transversal acquisitions, respectively. GafChromic films showed FWHM and penumbra within 0.1 mm. The output ratio obtained with the PTW-60019 for the 4 mm field was 1.6% greater in transverse direction compared to the nominal value. Comparable differences up to 0.8% and 1.0% for, respectively, GafChromic films and SFD were found. Conclusions: The microDiamond PTW-60019 is a suitable detector for commissioning and routine use of Gamma Knife with good agreement of both DORs and profiles in the three directions
Double spin asymmetry A_{LT} in direct photon production
We study the longitudinal-transverse double spin asymmetry for
direct photon production in nucleon-nucleon scattering by using the collinear
twist-3 approach. This asymmetry, which, for instance, could be measured at
RHIC, contains a complete set of collinear twist-3 correlation functions in a
transversely polarized nucleon.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
Autoantibodies to Osteoprotegerin are Associated with Low Hip Bone Mineral Density and History of Fractures in Axial Spondyloarthritis: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
Osteoporosis is a recognised complication of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and is thought to be due to functional impairment and the osteoclast-activating effects of proinflammatory cytokines. The development of autoantibodies to OPG (OPG-Ab) has been associated with severe osteoporosis and increased bone resorption in rheumatoid arthritis. In this study, we screened for the presence of OPG-Ab in axSpA and reviewed their clinical significance. We studied 134 patients, recruited from two centres in the United Kingdom. Their mean age was 47.5 years and 75% were male. Concentrations of OPG-Ab were related to bone mineral density (BMD) and fracture history using linear and logistic regression models adjusting for age, gender, disease duration and activity, body mass index and bisphosphonate use. We detected OPG-Ab in 11/134 patients (8.2%). Femoral neck and total hip BMD were significantly reduced in OPG-Ab positive patients (0.827 vs. 0.967 g/cm2, p = 0.008 and 0.868 vs. 1.028 g/cm2, p = 0.002, respectively). Regression analysis showed that the presence of OPG-Ab was independently associated with total hip osteopenia (ORadj 24.2; 95% CI 2.57, 228) and history of fractures (ORadj 10.5; 95% CI 2.07, 53.3). OPG-Ab concentration was associated with total hip BMD in g/cm2 (Ă = â1.15; 95% CI â0.25, â0.04). There were no associations between OPG-Ab concentration and bone turnover markers, but free sRANKL concentrations were lower in OPG-Ab-positive patients (median 0.04 vs. 0.11 pmol/L, p = 0.050). We conclude that OPG-Ab are associated with hip BMD and fractures in axSpA suggesting that they may contribute to the pathogenesis of bone loss in some patients with this condition
Estimate of the Collins fragmentation function in a chiral invariant approach
We predict the features of the Collins function, which describes the
fragmentation of a transversely polarized quark into an unpolarized hadron, by
modeling the fragmentation process at a low energy scale. We use the chiral
invariant approach of Manohar and Georgi, where constituent quarks and
Goldstone bosons are considered as effective degrees of freedom in the
non-perturbative regime of QCD. To test the approach we calculate the
unpolarized fragmentation function and the transverse momentum distribution of
a produced hadron, both of which are described reasonably well. In the case of
semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering, our estimate of the Collins function
in connection with the transversity distribution gives rise to a transverse
single spin asymmetry of the order of 10%, supporting the idea of measuring the
transversity distribution of the nucleon in this way. In the case of e+ e-
annihilation into two hadrons, our model predicts a Collins azimuthal asymmetry
of about 5%.Comment: 12 pages, 15 figures. Figs. 11-14 changed, minor changes in
discussion, few typos fixed and some references added. Final version to
appear in PR
Lorentz invariance relations between parton distributions and the Wandzura-Wilczek approximation
The violation of the so-called Lorentz invariance relations between parton
distribution functions is considered in a model independent way. It is shown
that these relations are not violated in a generalized Wandzura-Wilczek
approximation, indicating that numerically their violation may be small.Comment: 13 pages, added references, minor changes, to appear in Phys. Lett.
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