175 research outputs found
Changes to inhaled corticosteroid dose when initiating combination inhaler therapy in long-acting β agonist-naive patients with asthma : a retrospective database analysis
Retrospective prescribing data were obtained from 46 general practice surgeries in NHS Scotland. Patients with asthma who were naïve to previous long-acting β agonist therapy and initiated combination inhaler therapy in 2008–2009 were classified according to the inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) dose in their combination inhaler compared with the highest dose of ICS they received before initiation. Among the 685 patients (541 (79.0%) who had been prescribed an ICS previously), those originally on low-, medium- or high-dose ICS were changed to high-dose combination therapy in 122/250 (48.8%), 94/151 (62.3%) or 85/113 (75.2%) cases in each ICS dose category, respectively. These results suggest that evaluation of appropriate high-dose ICS prescribing in general practice is needed
The Flavor Asymmetry of the Light Quark Sea from Semi-inclusive Deep-inelastic Scattering
The flavor asymmetry of the light quark sea of the nucleon is determined in
the kinematic range 0.02<x<0.3 and 1 GeV^2<Q^2<10 GeV^2, for the first time
from semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering. The quantity
(dbar(x)-ubar(x))/(u(x)-d(x)) is derived from a relationship between the yields
of positive and negative pions from unpolarized hydrogen and deuterium targets.
The flavor asymmetry dbar-ubar is found to be non-zero and x dependent, showing
an excess of dbar over ubar quarks in the proton.Comment: 7 Pages, 2 figures, RevTeX format; slight revision in text, small
change in extraction of dbar-ubar and comparison with a high q2
parameterizatio
Evidence for Quark-Hadron Duality in the Proton Spin Asymmetry
Spin-dependent lepton-nucleon scattering data have been used to investigate
the validity of the concept of quark-hadron duality for the spin asymmetry
. Longitudinally polarised positrons were scattered off a longitudinally
polarised hydrogen target for values of between 1.2 and 12 GeV and
values of between 1 and 4 GeV. The average double-spin asymmetry in
the nucleon resonance region is found to agree with that measured in
deep-inelastic scattering at the same values of the Bjorken scaling variable
. This finding implies that the description of in terms of quark
degrees of freedom is valid also in the nucleon resonance region for values of
above 1.6 GeV.Comment: 5 pages, 1 eps figure, table added, new references added, in print in
Phys. Rev. Let
Observation of a Single-Spin Azimuthal Asymmetry in Semi-Inclusive Pion Electro-Production
Single-spin asymmetries for semi-inclusive pion production in deep-inelastic
scattering have been measured for the first time. A significant target-spin
asymmetry of the distribution in the azimuthal angle phi of the pion relative
to the lepton scattering plane was observed for pi+ electro-production on a
longitudinally polarized hydrogen target. The corresponding analyzing power in
the sin(phi) moment of the cross section is 0.022 +/- 0.005 +/- 0.003. This
result can be interpreted as the effect of terms in the cross section involving
chiral-odd spin distribution functions in combination with a time-reversal-odd
fragmentation function that is sensitive to the transverse polarization of the
fragmenting quark.Comment: 5 pages of RevTex, 3 ps figures, 2 table
Measurement of the Spin Asymmetry in the Photoproduction of Pairs of High-pT Hadrons at HERMES
We present a measurement of the longitudinal spin asymmetry A_|| in
photoproduction of pairs of hadrons with high transverse momentum p_T. Data
were accumulated by the HERMES experiment using a 27.5 GeV polarized positron
beam and a polarized hydrogen target internal to the HERA storage ring. For
h+h- pairs with p_T^h_1 > 1.5 GeV/c and p_T^h_2 > 1.0 GeV/c, the measured
asymmetry is A_|| = -0.28 +/- 0.12 (stat.) +/- 0.02 (syst.). This negative
value is in contrast to the positive asymmetries typically measured in deep
inelastic scattering from protons, and is interpreted to arise from a positive
gluon polarization.Comment: 5 pages (latex), 4 figures (eps
Single-spin Azimuthal Asymmetries in Electroproduction of Neutral Pions in Semi-inclusive Deep-inelastic Scattering
A single-spin asymmetry in the azimuthal distribution of neutral pions
relative to the lepton scattering plane has been measured for the first time in
deep-inelastic scattering of positrons off longitudinally polarized protons.
The analysing power in the sin(phi) moment of the cross section is 0.019 +/-
0.007(stat.) +/- 0.003(syst.). This result is compared to single-spin
asymmetries for charged pion production measured in the same kinematic range.
The pi^0 asymmetry is of the same size as the pi^+ asymmetry and shows a
similar dependence on the relevant kinematic variables. The asymmetry is
described by a phenomenological calculation based on a fragmentation function
that represents sensitivity to the transverse polarization of the struck quark.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, replaced to correct eprint author field, 2nd
replacement to correct figure; upper limit of model predictions are
corrected. No correction to data or conclusion
Double hadron leptoproduction in the nuclear medium
First measurement of double-hadron production in deep-inelastic scattering
has been measured with the HERMES spectrometer at HERA using a 27.6 GeV
positron beam with deuterium, nitrogen, krypton and xenon targets. The
influence of the nuclear medium on the ratio of double-hadron to single-hadron
yields has been investigated. Nuclear effects are clearly observed but with
substantially smaller magnitude and reduced -dependence compared to
previously measured single-hadron multiplicity ratios. The data are in fair
agreement with models based on partonic or pre-hadronic energy loss, while they
seem to rule out a pure absorptive treatment of the final state interactions.
Thus, the double-hadron ratio provides an additional tool for studying
modifications of hadronization in nuclear matter
Observation of a Coherence Length Effect in Exclusive Rho^0 Electroproduction
Exclusive incoherent electroproduction of the rho^0(770) meson from 1H, 2H,
3He, and 14N targets has been studied by the HERMES experiment at squared
four-momentum transfer Q**2>0.4 GeV**2 and positron energy loss nu from 9 to 20
GeV. The ratio of the 14N to 1H cross sections per nucleon, known as the
nuclear transparency, was found to decrease with increasing coherence length of
quark-antiquark fluctuations of the virtual photon. The data provide clear
evidence of the interaction of the quark- antiquark fluctuations with the
nuclear medium.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages, 3 figure
Measurement of Longitudinal Spin Transfer to Lambda Hyperons in Deep-Inelastic Lepton Scattering
Spin transfer in deep-inelastic Lambda electroproduction has been studied
with the HERMES detector using the 27.6 GeV polarized positron beam in the HERA
storage ring. For an average fractional energy transfer = 0.45, the
longitudinal spin transfer from the virtual photon to the Lambda has been
extracted. The spin transfer along the Lambda momentum direction is found to be
0.11 +/- 0.17 (stat) +/- 0.03 (sys); similar values are found for other
possible choices for the longitudinal spin direction of the Lambda. This result
is the most precise value obtained to date from deep-inelastic scattering with
charged lepton beams, and is sensitive to polarized up quark fragmentation to
hyperon states. The experimental result is found to be in general agreement
with various models of the Lambda spin content, and is consistent with the
assumption of helicity conservation in the fragmentation process.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; new version has an expanded discussion and small
format change
The -dependence of the generalised Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn integral for the deuteron, proton and neutron
The Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn (GDH) sum rule connects the anomalous contribution
to the magnetic moment of the target nucleus with an energy-weighted integral
of the difference of the helicity-dependent photoabsorption cross sections. The
data collected by HERMES with a deuterium target are presented together with a
re-analysis of previous measurements on the proton. This provides a measurement
of the generalised GDH integral covering simultaneously the nucleon-resonance
and the deep inelastic scattering regions. The contribution of the
nucleon-resonance region is seen to decrease rapidly with increasing . The
DIS contribution is sizeable over the full measured range, even down to the
lowest measured . As expected, at higher the data are found to be in
agreement with previous measurements of the first moment of . From data on
the deuteron and proton, the GDH integral for the neutron has been derived and
the proton--neutron difference evaluated. This difference is found to satisfy
the fundamental Bjorken sum rule at GeV.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure
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