910 research outputs found
Elliptic curves of large rank and small conductor
For r=6,7,...,11 we find an elliptic curve E/Q of rank at least r and the
smallest conductor known, improving on the previous records by factors ranging
from 1.0136 (for r=6) to over 100 (for r=10 and r=11). We describe our search
methods, and tabulate, for each r=5,6,...,11, the five curves of lowest
conductor, and (except for r=11) also the five of lowest absolute discriminant,
that we found.Comment: 16 pages, including tables and one .eps figure; to appear in the
Proceedings of ANTS-6 (June 2004, Burlington, VT). Revised somewhat after
comments by J.Silverman on the previous draft, and again to get the correct
page break
Quantum Electrodynamics at Extremely Small Distances
The asymptotics of the Gell-Mann - Low function in QED can be determined
exactly, \beta(g)= g at g\to\infty, where g=e^2 is the running fine structure
constant. It solves the problem of pure QED at small distances L and gives the
behavior g\sim L^{-2}.Comment: Latex, 6 pages, 1 figure include
Forecasting pharmaceutical expenditure in Europe : adjusting for the impact of rebates and discounts
European healthcare systems are under constant pressure to contain healthcare expenditure. Understanding future drug expenditure is an important consideration for payers when formulating policies. QuintileIMS publishes European forecasts that are underpinned by its audited volume data and publicly available list prices. With increasing price pressures, list to net price divergence is growing, although some of this information is commercially sensitive and thus not publicly available. The objective of this study was to further develop an established forecast to account for this divergence and explore its impact
Multivariable analysis to determine risk factors associated with early pregnancy loss in thoroughbred broodmares
Early pregnancy loss (EPL) between days 15–65 after breeding has been shown to occur in 7.9% of equine pregnancies with substantial economical, welfare and safety implications. Whilst maternal age has been recognised as an important risk factor in relation to the incidence of EPL, few other risk factors have been conclusively identified. Further, multivariable data analysis of risk factors for EPL is sparse. A prospective cohort investigation of thoroughbred broodmares in the United Kingdom was conducted over the 2013 and 2014 breeding seasons. Information relating to 28 factors including mare, stallion, pregnancy and therapeutic interventions was collected using questionnaires and entered into a custom-designed Microsoft Access database. Mixed effects logistic regression was used to determine risk factors for EPL, including ‘mare’ as a random effect to account for repeat pregnancies in the same mare. Stallion, stud and veterinarian were also evaluated as random effects. Variables with a p-value of <0.25 in univariable analysis were taken forward for consideration in the multivariable model which was built using a forward stepwise approach. Data were collected on 2245 pregnancies in 1753 mares. Increasing mare age (OR = 1.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.04, 1.18, p = 0.001), having had one previous foal (OR = 3.52, 95% CI = 1.56, 7.95, p = 0.002) and presence of uterine cysts (OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.07, 2.91, p = 0.03) were all associated with increased odds of EPL following multivariable analysis. Increasing day 15/16 scan vesicle size (OR = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.16, 0.38, p < 0.001) and the use of ovulatory induction agents (OR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.17, 0.55, p < 0.001) were negatively associated with EPL. Stallion, stud and veterinarian were not significantly associated with EPL. Analysis of a subpopulation of 344 multiple (twin and triplet) pregnancies found that the use of flunixin meglumine at the time of manual reduction of a multiple pregnancy resulted in reduced odds of EPL (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.14, 0.84, p = 0.02). Results from this study can be used by stud farm personnel when assessing their broodmare population and by clinicians when deciding upon therapeutic strategies. Additional work can be focused around these risk factors to further our understanding of the pathophysiology of EPL
Beyond deficit-based models of learners' cognition: Interpreting engineering students' difficulties with sense-making in terms of fine-grained epistemological and conceptual dynamics
Researchers have argued against deficit-based explanations of students'
troubles with mathematical sense-making, pointing instead to factors such as
epistemology: students' beliefs about knowledge and learning can hinder them
from activating and integrating productive knowledge they have. In this case
study of an engineering major solving problems (about content from his
introductory physics course) during a clinical interview, we show that "Jim"
has all the mathematical and conceptual knowledge he would need to solve a
hydrostatic pressure problem that we posed to him. But he reaches and sticks
with an incorrect answer that violates common sense. We argue that his lack of
mathematical sense-making-specifically, translating and reconciling between
mathematical and everyday/common-sense reasoning-stems in part from his
epistemological views, i.e., his views about the nature of knowledge and
learning. He regards mathematical equations as much more trustworthy than
everyday reasoning, and he does not view mathematical equations as expressing
meaning that tractably connects to common sense. For these reasons, he does not
view reconciling between common sense and mathematical formalism as either
necessary or plausible to accomplish. We, however, avoid a potential "deficit
trap"-substituting an epistemological deficit for a concepts/skills deficit-by
incorporating multiple, context-dependent epistemological stances into Jim's
cognitive dynamics. We argue that Jim's epistemological stance contains
productive seeds that instructors could build upon to support Jim's
mathematical sense-making: He does see common-sense as connected to formalism
(though not always tractably so) and in some circumstances this connection is
both salient and valued.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of Engineering Educatio
Disminución de la expresión de STXBP5-AS1 en células con leucemia linfoblástica aguda.
La leucemia linfoblástica aguda (LLA) es una neoplasia hematológicaconsecuencia de la transformación maligna de los precursores linfoides de la línea B o T.Es la neoplasia más frecuente en oncología pediátrica, presentando una incidencia anualde aproximadamente 4-5 casos nuevos por cada 100.000 niños menores de 15 años, y apesar de tener una incidencia menor en pacientes adultos es una de las principalescausas de mortalidad dentro de las neoplasias hematológicas. Si bien el tratamiento dela LLA constituye uno de los grandes éxitos de la medicina actual, hasta el 25% de losniños y más del 50% de los adultos sufren una recaída de la enfermedad lo que empeoramuy significativamente su pronóstico. La epigenética es la disciplina científica queestudia cambios en la expresión génica que no se deben a alteraciones en la secuenciade ADN. En los últimos años se ha determinado que diversas alteraciones epigenéticas,tales como metilación del ADN, deacetilación de histonas y pequeños ARN nocodificantes, pueden jugar un papel fundamental en la patogenia de la LLA. Los RNAs nocodificantes largos (lncRNAs), por definición, son todos aquellos que tienen una longitudsuperior a 200 nucleótidos. Algunos son intergénicos (lincRNAs) y otros son intrónicos,pero la mayoría son complementarios a otros ARNs codificantes o no codificantes. Existeun gran número de lncRNAs (entre 7000 y 23000 en las células humanas), pero seconocen pocos y los estudiados muestran una gran variedad funcional
Scintillating double beta decay bolometers
We present the results obtained in the development of scintillating Double
Beta Decay bolometers. Several Mo and Cd based crystals were tested with the
bolometric technique. The scintillation light was measured through a second
independent bolometer. A 140 g CdWO_4 crystal was run in a 417 h live time
measurement. Thanks to the scintillation light, the alpha background is easily
discriminated resulting in zero counts above the 2615 keV gamma line of
Thallium 208. These results, combined with an extremely easy light detector
operation, represent the first tangible proof demonstrating the feasibility of
this kind of technique.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
Resummation of Running Coupling Effects in Semileptonic B Meson Decays and Extraction of
We present a determination of from semileptonic B decays that
includes resummation of supposedly large perturbative corrections, originating
from the running of the strong coupling. We argue that the low value of the BLM
scale found previously for inclusive decays is a manifestation of the
renormalon divergence of the perturbative series starting already in third
order. A reliable determination of from inclusive decays is possible
if one either uses a short-distance b quark mass or eliminates all unphysical
mass parameters in terms of measured observables, such that all infra-red
contributions of order cancel explicitly. We find that using the
running mass significantly reduces the perturbative
coefficients already in low orders. For a semileptonic branching ratio of
we obtain from
inclusive decays, in good agreement with the value extracted from exclusive
decays.Comment: 37 pages + 4 figures, final version accepted for publication in Phys.
Rev.
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