Progress in One-Loop QCD Computations

We review progress in calculating one-loop scattering amplitudes required for next-to-leading-order corrections to QCD processes. The underlying technical developments include the spinor helicity formalism, color decompositions, supersymmetry, string theory, factorization and unitarity. We provide explicit examples illustrating these techniques.Comment: To appear in Annual Reviews of Nuclear and Particle Science (1996

Evaluating the potential for the environmentally sustainable control of foot and mouth disease in Sub-Saharan Africa

Strategies to control transboundary diseases have in the past generated unintended negative consequences for both the environment and local human populations. Integrating perspectives from across disciplines, including livestock, veterinary and conservation sectors, is necessary for identifying disease control strategies that optimise environmental goods and services at the wildlife-livestock interface. Prompted by the recent development of a global strategy for the control and elimination of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), this paper seeks insight into the consequences of, and rational options for potential FMD control measures in relation to environmental, conservation and human poverty considerations in Africa. We suggest a more environmentally nuanced process of FMD control that safe-guards the integrity of wild populations and the ecosystem dynamics on which human livelihoods depend while simultaneously improving socio-economic conditions of rural people. In particular, we outline five major issues that need to be considered: 1) improved understanding of the different FMD viral strains and how they circulate between domestic and wildlife populations; 2) an appreciation for the economic value of wildlife for many African countries whose presence might preclude the country from ever achieving an FMD-free status; 3) exploring ways in which livestock production can be improved without compromising wildlife such as implementing commodity-based trading schemes; 4) introducing a participatory approach involving local farmers and the national veterinary services in the control of FMD; and 5) finally the possibility that transfrontier conservation might offer new hope of integrating decision-making at the wildlife-livestock interface

Current estimates of biogenic emissions from Eucalypts uncertain for Southeast Australia

The biogenic emissions of isoprene and monoterpenes are one of the main drivers of atmospheric photochemistry, including oxidant and secondary organic aerosol production. In this paper, the emission rates of isoprene and monoterpenes from Australian vegetation are investigated for the first time using the Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature version 2.1 (MEGANv2.1); the CSIRO chemical transport model; and atmospheric observations of isoprene, monoterpenes and isoprene oxidation products (methacrolein and methyl vinyl ketone). Observations from four field campaigns during three different seasons are used, covering urban, coastal suburban and inland forest areas. The observed concentrations of isoprene and monoterpenes were of a broadly similar magnitude, which may indicate that southeast Australia holds an unusual position where neither chemical species dominates. The model results overestimate the observed atmospheric concentrations of isoprene (up to a factor of 6) and underestimate the monoterpene concentrations (up to a factor of 4). This may occur because the emission rates currently used in MEGANv2.1 for Australia are drawn mainly from young eucalypt trees (\u3c 7 years), which may emit more isoprene than adult trees. There is no single increase/decrease factor for the emissions which suits all seasons and conditions studied. There is a need for further field measurements of in situ isoprene and monoterpene emission fluxes in Australia

Getting the right balance: insole design alters the static balance of people with diabetes and neuropathy

BACKGROUND: Over 1 in 3 older people with diabetes sustain a fall each year. Postural instability has been identified as independent risk factor for falls within people with Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (DPN). People with DPN, at increased risk of falls, are routinely required to wear offloading insoles, yet the impact of these insoles on postural stability and postural control is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a standard offloading insole and its constituent parts on the balance in people with DPN. METHODS: A random sample of 50 patients with DPN were observed standing for 3 × 30 s, and stepping in response to a light, under five conditions presented in a random order; as defined by a computer program; 1) no insole, 2) standard diabetic: a standard offloading insole made from EVA/poron®, and three other insoles with one design component systematically altered 3) flat: diabetic offloading insole with arch fill removed, 4) low resilient memory: diabetic offloading insole with the cover substituted with low resilience memory V9, 5) textured: diabetic offloading insole with a textured PVC surface added (Algeos Ltd). After each condition participants self-rated perceived steadiness. RESULTS: Insole design effected static balance and balance perception, but not stepping reaction time in people with DPN. The diabetic and memory shaped insoles (with arch fill) significantly increased centre of pressure velocity (14 %, P = 0.006), (13 %, P = 0.001), and path length (14 %, P = 0.006), (13 %, P = 001), when compared to the no insole condition. The textured shaped and flat soft insole had no effect on static balance when compared to the no insole condition (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Insoles have an effect on static balance but not stepping reaction time. This effect is independent of neuropathy severity. The addition of a textured cover seems to counter the negative effect of an arch fill, even in participants with severe sensation loss. Static balance is unaffected by material softness or resilience. Current best practice of providing offloading insoles, with arch fill, to increase contact area and reduce peak pressure could be making people more unstable. Whilst flat, soft insoles maybe the preferable design option for those with poor balance. There is a need to develop an offloading insole that can reduce diabetic foot ulcer risk, without compromising balance

Binary credal classification under sparsity constraints.

Binary classification is a well known problem in statistics. Besides classical methods, several techniques such as the naive credal classifier (for categorical data) and imprecise logistic regression (for continuous data) have been proposed to handle sparse data. However, a convincing approach to the classification problem in high dimensional problems (i.e., when the number of attributes is larger than the number of observations) is yet to be explored in the context of imprecise probability. In this article, we propose a sensitivity analysis based on penalised logistic regression scheme that works as binary classifier for high dimensional cases. We use an approach based on a set of likelihood functions (i.e. an imprecise likelihood, if you like), that assigns a set of weights to the attributes, to ensure a robust selection of the important attributes, whilst training the model at the same time, all in one fell swoop. We do a sensitivity analysis on the weights of the penalty term resulting in a set of sparse constraints which helps to identify imprecision in the dataset

No triangles on the moduli space of maximally supersymmetric gauge theory

Maximally supersymmetric gauge theory in four dimensions has a remarkably simple S-matrix at the origin of its moduli space at both tree and loop level. This leads to the question what, if any, of this structure survives at the complement of this one point. Here this question is studied in detail at one loop for the branch of the moduli space parameterized by a vacuum expectation value for one complex scalar. Motivated by the parallel D-brane picture of spontaneous symmetry breaking a simple relation is demonstrated between the Lagrangian of broken super Yang-Mills theory and that of its higher dimensional unbroken cousin. Using this relation it is proven both through an on- as well as an off-shell method there are no so-called triangle coefficients in the natural basis of one-loop functions at any finite point of the moduli space for the theory under study. The off-shell method yields in addition absence of rational terms in a class of theories on the Coulomb branch which includes the special case of maximal supersymmetry. The results in this article provide direct field theory evidence for a recently proposed exact dual conformal symmetry motivated by the AdS/CFT correspondence.Comment: 39 pages, 4 figure

Risk-Targeted Selection of Agricultural Holdings for Post-Epidemic Surveillance: Estimation of Efficiency Gains

Current post-epidemic sero-surveillance uses random selection of animal holdings. A better strategy may be to estimate the benefits gained by sampling each farm and use this to target selection. In this study we estimate the probability of undiscovered infection for sheep farms in Devon after the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak using the combination of a previously published model of daily infection risk and a simple model of probability of discovery of infection during the outbreak. This allows comparison of the system sensitivity (ability to detect infection in the area) of arbitrary, random sampling compared to risk-targeted selection across a full range of sampling budgets. We show that it is possible to achieve 95% system sensitivity by sampling, on average, 945 farms with random sampling and 184 farms with risk-targeted sampling. We also examine the effect of ordering samples by risk to expedite return to a disease-free status. Risk ordering the sampling process results in detection of positive farms, if present, 15.6 days sooner than with randomly ordered sampling, assuming 50 farms are tested per day

Citizen science in schools: Engaging students in research on urban habitat for pollinators

Citizen science can play an important role in school science education. Citizen science is particularly relevant to addressing current societal environmental sustainability challenges, as it engages the students directly with environmental science and gives students an understanding of the scientific process. In addition, it allows students to observe local representations of global challenges. Here, we report a citizen science programme designed to engage school-age children in real-world scientific research. The programme used standardized methods deployed across multiple schools through scientist–school partnerships to engage students with an important conservation problem: habitat for pollinator insects in urban environments. Citizen science programmes such as the programme presented here can be used to enhance scientific literacy and skills. Provided key challenges to maintain data quality are met, this approach is a powerful way to contribute valuable citizen science data for understudied, but ecologically important study systems, particularly in urban environments across broad geographical areas

Comparative characterization of Shiga toxin type 2 and subtilase cytotoxin effects on human renal epithelial and endothelial cells grown in monolayer and bilayer conditions

Published: June 23, 2016Postdiarrheal hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) affects children under 5 years old and is responsible for the development of acute and chronic renal failure, particularly in Argentina. This pathology is a complication of Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli infection and renal damage is attributed to Stx types 1 and 2 (Stx1, Stx2) produced by Escherichia coli O157:H7 and many other STEC serotypes. It has been reported the production of Subtilase cytotoxin (SubAB) by non-O157 STEC isolated from cases of childhood diarrhea. Therefore, it is proposed that SubAB may contribute to HUS pathogenesis. The human kidney is the most affected organ because very Stx-sensitive cells express high amounts of biologically active receptor. In this study, we investigated the effects of Stx2 and SubAB on primary cultures of human glomerular endothelial cells (HGEC) and on a human tubular epithelial cell line (HK-2) in monoculture and coculture conditions. We have established the coculture as a human renal proximal tubule model to study water absorption and cytotoxicity in the presence of Stx2 and SubAB. We obtained and characterized cocultures of HGEC and HK-2. Under basal conditions, HGEC monolayers exhibited the lowest electrical resistance (TEER) and the highest water permeability, while the HGEC/HK-2 bilayers showed the highest TEER and the lowest water permeability. In addition, at times as short as 20-30 minutes, Stx2 and SubAB caused the inhibition of water absorption across HK-2 and HGEC monolayers and this effect was not related to a decrease in cell viability. However, toxins did not have inhibitory effects on water movement across HGEC/HK-2 bilayers. After 72 h, Stx2 inhibited the cell viability of HGEC and HK-2 monolayers, but these effects were attenuated in HGEC/HK-2 bilayers. On the other hand, SubAB cytotoxicity shows a tendency to be attenuated by the bilayers. Our data provide evidence about the different effects of these toxins on the bilayers respect to the monolayers. This in vitro model of communication between human renal microvascular endothelial cells and human proximal tubular epithelial cells is a representative model of the human proximal tubule to study the effects of Stx2 and SubAB related to the development of HUS.Romina S. Álvarez, Flavia Sacerdoti, Carolina Jancic, Adrienne W. Paton, James C. Paton, Cristina Ibarra, María M. Amara

Effects of a physical education intervention on cognitive function in young children: randomized controlled pilot study

Randomized controlled trials (RCT) are required to test relationships between physical activity and cognition in children, but these must be informed by exploratory studies. This study aimed to inform future RCT by: conducting practical utility and reliability studies to identify appropriate cognitive outcome measures; piloting an RCT of a 10 week physical education (PE) intervention which involved 2hours per week of aerobically intense PE compared to 2 hours of standard PE (control). 64 healthy children (mean age 6.2 yrs SD 0.3; 33 boys) recruited from 6 primary schools. Outcome measures were the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Battery (CANTAB), the Attention Network Test (ANT), the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS) and the short form of the Connor’s Parent Rating Scale (CPRS:S). Physical activity was measured habitually and during PE sessions using the Actigraph accelerometer. Test- retest intraclass correlations from CANTAB Spatial Span (r 0.51) and Spatial Working Memory Errors (0.59) and ANT Reaction Time (0.37) and ANT Accuracy (0.60) were significant, but low. Physical activity was significantly higher during intervention vs. control PE sessions (p <0.0001). There were no significant differences between intervention and control group changes in CAS scores. Differences between intervention and control groups favoring the intervention were observed for CANTAB Spatial Span, CANTAB Spatial Working Memory Errors, and ANT Accuracy. The present study has identified practical and age-appropriate cognitive and behavioral outcome measures for future RCT, and identified that schools are willing to increase PE time