Z(3) Symmetric Dimensional Reduction of (2+1)D QCD

Here we present a candidate for a Z(3)-symmetric reduced action for the description of the (2+1)D SU(3) gauge theoryComment: 2 pages, Statistical QCD pro

QCD with Adjoint Scalars in 2D: Properties in the Colourless Scalar Sector

We present a numerical study of an SU(3) gauged 2D model for adjoint scalar fields, defined by dimensional reduction of pure gauge QCD in (2+1)D at high temperature. In the symmetric phase of its global Z_2 symmetry, two colourless boundstates, even and odd under Z_2, are identified. Their respective contributions (poles) in correlation functions of local composite operators A_n of degree n=2p and 2p+1 in the scalar fields (p=1,2) fulfill factorization. The contributions of two particle states (cuts) are detected. Their size agrees with estimates based on a meanfield-like decomposition of the p=2 operators into polynomials in p=1 operators. No sizable signal in any A_n correlation can be attributed to 1/n times a Debye screening length associated with n elementary fields. These results are quantitatively consistent with the picture of scalar ``matter'' fields confined within colourless boundstates whose residual ``strong'' interactions are very weak.Comment: 27 pages, improved presentation of results and some references added, as accepted by Nucl. Phys.

Screening Masses in Dimensionally Reduced (2+1)D Gauge Theory

We discuss the screening masses and residue factorisation of the SU(3) (2+1)D theory in the dimensional reduction formalism. The phase structure of the reduced model is also investigated.Comment: 3 pages, Lattice 2001(gaugetheories

Anti-glycation agent comprising a Garcinia kola extract or fraction

This invention relates to an anti-glycation agent comprising a Garcinia kola extract or fraction. The compositions comprising the extract or the fraction are used to inhibit the glycation of proteins, in particular the glycation of skin proteins involved in cutaneous aging. This invention also relates to a method for determining the activity of compounds for inhibiting the glycation of cutaneous proteins, in particular for inhibiting the glycation of collagen

Prospective study of 310 patients: can early CT predict the severity of acute pancreatitis?

Background: This study was designed to determine the most important early CT parameters predictive of acute pancreatitis severity. Methods: Three hundred and seventy-one consecutive patients with acute abdominal pain and hyperamylasemia were enrolled. Three hundred and ten of the 371 patients met our inclusion criteria. Acute pancreatitis severity was evaluated using the 1992 Atlanta criteria. Different CT parameters were reported from the admission abdominal CT by two radiologists blinded from any clinical parameter, but the patients' age and gender. These variables were fitted in a binary logistic regression model. Results: Acute pancreatitis was mild in 80% cases, severe in 20% cases and lethal in 12.69% cases. The following CT parameters were significantly associated with the severity of acute pancreatitis: the objective size of the pancreas (P=0.001), the peripancreatic fat abnormalities (P=0.001) and the extent of necrosis (P=0.007). Moreover, the age of the patient revealed itself a highly significant (P=0.001) indicator of disease severity. The association of the four CT criteria eventually showed a sensitivity of 73% and a specificity of 81% to predict acute pancreatitis severity. Conclusion: Although these criteria correlated with disease severity, our study identified that morphological CT criteria cannot be used to triage patients with severe and mild acute pancreatiti

Affine Subspace Representation for Feature Description

This paper proposes a novel Affine Subspace Representation (ASR) descriptor to deal with affine distortions induced by viewpoint changes. Unlike the traditional local descriptors such as SIFT, ASR inherently encodes local information of multi-view patches, making it robust to affine distortions while maintaining a high discriminative ability. To this end, PCA is used to represent affine-warped patches as PCA-patch vectors for its compactness and efficiency. Then according to the subspace assumption, which implies that the PCA-patch vectors of various affine-warped patches of the same keypoint can be represented by a low-dimensional linear subspace, the ASR descriptor is obtained by using a simple subspace-to-point mapping. Such a linear subspace representation could accurately capture the underlying information of a keypoint (local structure) under multiple views without sacrificing its distinctiveness. To accelerate the computation of ASR descriptor, a fast approximate algorithm is proposed by moving the most computational part (ie, warp patch under various affine transformations) to an offline training stage. Experimental results show that ASR is not only better than the state-of-the-art descriptors under various image transformations, but also performs well without a dedicated affine invariant detector when dealing with viewpoint changes.Comment: To Appear in the 2014 European Conference on Computer Visio

The disruptive impact of attribute information on the effectiveness of analogies in print advertising as a means to enhance consumer learning of new product benefits

The presented study had two purposes. First, it pursued to demonstrate that it is more effective to use analogies in advertisements for really new products to increase consumers’ comprehension of the new product’s benefits than not to use analogies. Second, it aimed to test the (counterintuitive) assumption that inclusion of product attribute information in the advertisement in addition to the analogy would actually frustrate benefit comprehension. The results of the experiment showed that advertisements with an analogy lead to greater benefit comprehension than advertisements without an analogy. Further, it is more effective in print advertising in managing consumer learning of a new product’s benefits to use an analogy without than with additional product attribute information. The use of analogies did not increase purchase intention however. We discuss these findings and outline directions for future research

Analogical learning of new product benefits: Between-domain analogies versus within-domain analogies.

The slow rate at which many really new products (RNPs) are adopted can at least partially be explained by the low observability of the distinct benefits. It is suggested that between-domain analogies rather than within-domain analogies are effective in directing consumer’s attention to the key benefits of and developing preferences for a RNP. The results of a laboratory experiment show a significant relationship between ads using between-domain analogies and consumer’s benefit comprehension for one of the two RNPs. The relationship with preferences for the RNP, however, is insignificant. But an increased benefit comprehension positively influences preferences for the RNP. We discuss these findings and outline directions for future research

Risk factors for mortality-morbidity after emergency-urgent colorectal surgery

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the risk factors associated with mortality and morbidity following emergency or urgent colorectal surgery. Materials and methods: All data regarding the 462 patients who underwent emergency colonic resection in our institution between November 2002 and December 2007 were prospectively entered into a computerized database. Results: The median age of patients was 73 (range 17-98)years. The most common indications for surgery were: 171 adenocarcinomas (37%), 129 complicated diverticulitis (28%), and 35 colonic ischemia (7.5%). Overall mortality and morbidity rates were 14% and 36%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, the only parameter significantly associated with postoperative mortality was blood loss >500cm3 (odds ratio (OR) = 3.33, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.63-6.82, p = 0.001). There were three parameters which correlated with postoperative morbidity: ASA score ≥3 (OR = 2.9, 95% CI 1.9-4.5, p < 0.001), colonic ischemia (OR = 3.4, 95% CI 1.4-7.7, p = 0.006), and stoma creation (OR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.4-3.4, p = 0.0003). Conclusions: The main risk factors for postoperative morbidity and mortality following emergency colorectal surgery are related to: (1) patients' ASA score, (2) colonic ischemia, and (3) perioperative bleeding. These variables should be considered in the elaboration of future scoring systems to predict outcome of emergency colorectal surger

Equation of state SAHA-S meets stellar evolution code CESAM2k

We present an example of an interpolation code of the SAHA-S equation of state that has been adapted for use in the stellar evolution code CESAM2k. The aim is to provide the necessary data and numerical procedures for its implementation in a stellar code. A technical problem is the discrepancy between the sets of thermodynamic quantities provided by the SAHA-S equation of state and those necessary in the CESAM2k computations. Moreover, the independent variables in a practical equation of state (like SAHA-S) are temperature and density, whereas for modelling calculations the variables temperature and pressure are preferable. Specifically for the CESAM2k code, some additional quantities and their derivatives must be provided. To provide the bridge between the equation of state and stellar modelling, we prepare auxiliary tables of the quantities that are demanded in CESAM2k. Then we use cubic spline interpolation to provide both smoothness and a good approximation of the necessary derivatives. Using the B-form of spline representation provides us with an efficient algorithm for three-dimensional interpolation. The table of B-spline coefficients provided can be directly used during stellar model calculations together with the module of cubic spline interpolation. This implementation of the SAHA-S equation of state in the CESAM2k stellar structure and evolution code has been tested on a solar model evolved to the present. A comparison with other equations of state is briefly discussed. The choice of a regular net of mesh points for specific primary quantities in the SAHA-S equation of state, together with accurate and consistently smooth tabulated values, provides an effective algorithm of interpolation in modelling calculations. The proposed module of interpolation procedures can be easily adopted in other evolution codes.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure