Towards a lattice calculation of the coefficients of the QCD chiral Lagrangian

We discuss a general strategy to compute the coefficients of QCD chiral Lagrangian by using the lattice regularization of QCD with Wilson fermions. This procedure requires the introduction of an effective Lagrangian for lattice QCD as an intermediate step in the calculation. The continuum QCD chiral Lagrangian can be then obtained by expanding the lattice effective Lagrangian in increasing powers of the external momenta. A suitable renormalization procedure is required to account for the chiral symmetry breaking introduced by the Wilson term in the lattice action. In anticipation of a numerical simulation, the lattice effective Lagrangian is computed analytically and investigated in the strong coupling and large $N$ limitComment: Talk presented at LATTICE96(chirality in qcd) , 3 pages, no figures. Latex file with espcrc2 styl

An Econometric Analysis on the Co-Movement of Stock Market Volatility between China and ASEAN-5

This study aims to examine the co-movement of stock market volatility between China and ASEAN-5 countries from the year 2000 to 2009. This study applies the standard linear GARCH (1, 1) model where these models estimate using monthly price data from year 2000 to 2009 for China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines. The standard time series econometrics analysis is used which are ADF unit root test, JJ co-integration test, and Granger causality test. The results indicate the co movement of stock market volatility between China and ASEAN-5 have fairly relation among them. The result shows there are two way relations which are bidirectional causality between china and Indonesia; China and Thailand; and China and Singapore. Meanwhile, there have no causality relation between China and Malaysia; and also China and Philippines. Though, it can be concluded that there are relationship between regions in the stock market volatility

The usefulness of confusion, urea, respiratory rate, and shock index or adjusted shock index criteria in predicting combined mortality and/or ICU admission compared to CURB-65 in community-acquired pneumonia

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Hyperonic mixing in five-baryon double-strangeness hypernuclei in a two-channel treatment

Properties of hypernuclei $_{\Lambda \Lambda}^5$H and $_{\Lambda \Lambda }^5$He are studied in a two-channel approach with explicit treatment of coupling of channels ^3\text{Z}+\Lambda+\Lambda and \alpha+\Xi. Diagonal \Lambda\Lambda and coupling \Lambda\Lambda-\Xi N interactions are derived within G-matrix procedure from Nijmegen meson-exchange models. Bond energy \Delta B_{\Lambda\Lambda} in $_{\Lambda \Lambda}^5$He exceeds significantly that in $_{\Lambda \Lambda}^5$H due to the channel coupling. Diagonal \Xi\alpha attraction amplifies the effect, which is sensitive also to \Lambda-core interaction. The difference of the \Delta B_{\Lambda\Lambda} values can be an unambiguous signature of the \Lambda\Lambda-\Xi N coupling in \Lambda\Lambda hypernuclei. However, improved knowledge of the hyperon-nucleus potentials is needed for quantitative extraction of the coupling strength from future data on the \Lambda\Lambda hypernuclear binding energies.Comment: 11 pages with 3 figures; Phys. Rev. C, accepte

Antithrombotic Therapy To Prevent Cognitive Decline In People With Small Vessel Disease On Neuroimaging But Without Dementia

Protocolpublished_or_final_versio

Intra-orbital distance as a record of social brain dysmorphology in autism

Minor Physical Anomalies (MPAs) arise during the first trimester of prenatal life and occur more frequently in autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders. We measured intra-orbital distances from T1 weighted images of children with autism aged 6 – 16 years and typically developing peers. We report a significant increase in intra-orbital distance in autism. Using voxel-wise linear regression analysis intra-orbital distances were found to positively correlate with the volume of inferio-temporal regions including the amygdala in the autism group only. We suggest that intra-orbital MPA may provide a ‘fossil’ record of much earlier childhood brain expansion in autism.published_or_final_versionThe 19th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), Montreal, Canada, 7-13 May 2011. In Proceedings of the 19th ISMRM, 2011, p. 252

Characterizing the relationship between land use land cover change and land surface temperature

Exploring changes in land use land cover (LULC) to understand the urban heat island (UHI) effect is valuable for both communities and local governments in cities in developing countries, where urbanization and industrialization often take place rapidly but where coherent planning and control policies have not been applied. This work aims at determining and analyzing the relationship between LULC change and land surface temperature (LST) patterns in the context of urbanization. We first explore the relationship between LST and vegetation, man-made features, and cropland using normalized vegetation, and built-up indices within each LULC type. Afterwards, we assess the impacts of LULC change and urbanization in UHI using hot spot analysis (Getis-Ord Gi∗ statistics) and urban landscape analysis. Finally, we propose a model applying non-parametric regression to estimate future urban climate patterns using predicted land cover and land use change. Results from this work provide an effective methodology for UHI characterization, showing that (a) LST depends on a nonlinear way of LULC types; (b) hotspot analysis using Getis Ord Gi∗ statistics allows to analyze the LST pattern change through time; (c) UHI is influenced by both urban landscape and urban development type; (d) LST pattern forecast and UHI effect examination can be done by the proposed model using nonlinear regression and simulated LULC change scenarios. We chose an inner city area of Hanoi as a case-study, a small and flat plain area where LULC change is significant due to urbanization and industrialization. The methodology presented in this paper can be broadly applied in other cities which exhibit a similar dynamic growth. Our findings can represent an useful tool for policy makers and the community awareness by providing a scientific basis for sustainable urban planning and management.First, the authors would like to thank the European Commission and the Erasmus Mundus Consortium for providing the master scholarship in Geospatial Technologies. We acknowledge the USGS-NASA due to their freely accessible Landsat data. Thanks are also due to the Laboratory for Geographic Information Analysis (Department of Geography, Hanoi National University of Education) for providing valuable tools and software. This work has also been partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy under project ESP2013-48458-C4-3- P

Circulating endothelial microparticles reduce in concentration following an exercise programme in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Purpose: Endothelial dysfunction is a known comorbidity in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The aim was to assess if supervised, moderate intensity exercise could potentially impact markers of endothelial disruption; endothelial cell derived microparticles (EMP). Methods: The current study investigated the effects of a supervised 8-week moderate intensity exercise programme on EMP in women with PCOS (n=11) and control women free from any known disease (n=10). EMP were enumerated via specific antibody (CD105, CD106) labelling and flow cytometry.Results: CD105+MP significantly reduced in women with PCOS from pre to post exercise programme, with CD105+ MP reducing from 2114 CD105+ MP per µl platelet free plasma (PFP) to 424 CD105+ MP per µl PFP (p = 0.025). Control women showed no significant change in CD105+ MP (p = 0.25) after completing the same exercise programme. CD106+ MP showed no change in either PCOS (p = 0.95) or control groups (p = 0.99). No significant correlations existed with the changes in endothelial microparticles (EMP) compared to body composition changes as a result of exercise. Conclusion: Supervised, moderate intensity exercise independent of substantial weight loss reduced circulating CD105+MP, likely reflecting an improvement in endothelial function in women with PCOS compared to healthy control women. Additionally, EMP may be a useful marker for physical improvement in exercise programmes for clinical populations

Assessing Spatiotemporal Drought Dynamics and Its Related Environmental Issues in the Mekong River Delta

Drought is a major natural disaster that creates a negative impact on socio-economic development and environment. Drought indices are typically applied to characterize drought events in a meaningful way. This study aims at examining variations in agricultural drought severity based on the relationship between standardized ratio of actual and potential evapotranspiration (ET and PET), enhanced vegetation index (EVI), and land surface temperature (LST) derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) platform. A new drought index, called the enhanced drought severity index (EDSI), was developed by applying spatiotemporal regression methods and time-series biophysical data derived from remote sensing. In addition, time-series trend analysis in the 2001–2018 period, along with the Mann–Kendal (MK) significance test and the Theil Sen (TS) slope, were used to examine the spatiotemporal dynamics of environmental parameters (i.e., LST, EVI, ET, and PET), and geographically weighted regression (GWR) was subsequently applied in order to analyze the local correlations among them. Results showed that a significant correlation was discovered among LST, EVI, ET, and PET, as well as their standardized ratios (|r| > 0.8, p 0.7 and a statistical significance p < 0.01. Besides, it was found that the temporal tendency of this phenomenon was the increase in intensity of drought, and that coastal areas in the study area were more vulnerable to this phenomenon. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of EDSI and the potential application of integrating spatial regression and time-series data for assessing regional drought conditions

Substrate sequence selectivity of APOBEC3A implicates intra-DNA interactions

The APOBEC3 (A3) family of human cytidine deaminases is renowned for providing a first line of defense against many exogenous and endogenous retroviruses. However, the ability of these proteins to deaminate deoxycytidines in ssDNA makes A3s a double-edged sword. When overexpressed, A3s can mutate endogenous genomic DNA resulting in a variety of cancers. Although the sequence context for mutating DNA varies among A3s, the mechanism for substrate sequence specificity is not well understood. To characterize substrate specificity of A3A, a systematic approach was used to quantify the affinity for substrate as a function of sequence context, length, secondary structure, and solution pH. We identified the A3A ssDNA binding motif as (T/C)TC(A/G), which correlated with enzymatic activity. We also validated that A3A binds RNA in a sequence specific manner. A3A bound tighter to substrate binding motif within a hairpin loop compared to linear oligonucleotide, suggesting A3A affinity is modulated by substrate structure. Based on these findings and previously published A3A-ssDNA co-crystal structures, we propose a new model with intra-DNA interactions for the molecular mechanism underlying A3A sequence preference. Overall, the sequence and structural preferences identified for A3A leads to a new paradigm for identifying A3A\u27s involvement in mutation of endogenous or exogenous DNA