2,246 research outputs found
Event anisotropy in 4.2A GeV/c C+C collisions
The directed and elliptic flow of protons and negative pions in 4.2A GeV/c
C+C collisions is studied using the Fourier analysis of azimuthal
distributions. It is found that the protons exhibit pronounced directed flow,
while the flow of pions is either non existent or too weak to be detected
experimentally. Also, it is found that in the entire rapidity interval the
elliptic flow is very small if not zero. These results are confirmed by the
Quark-Gluon-String Model (QGSM) and the relativistic transport model (ART 1.0),
except that these models predict very weak antiflow of pions. The more detailed
comparison with the QGSM suggests that the decay of resonances and rescattering
of secondaries dominantly determine the proton and negative pion flow at this
energy.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, TeX file changed from double to single-spacin
Forming norms: informing diagnosis and management in sports medicine
Clinicians aim to identify abnormalities, and distinguish harmful from harmless abnormalities. In sports medicine, measures of physical function such as strength, balance and joint flexibility are used as diagnostic tools to identify causes of pain and disability and monitor progression in response to an intervention. Comparing results from clinical measures against ‘normal’ values guides decision-making regarding health outcomes. Understanding ‘normal’ is therefore central to appropriate management of disease and disability. However, ‘normal’ is difficult to clarify and definitions are dependent on context. ‘Normal’ in the clinical setting is best understood as an appropriate state of physical function. Particularly as disease, pain and sickness are expected occurrences of being human, understanding ‘normal’ at each stage of the lifespan is essential to avoid the medicalisation of usual life processes. Clinicians use physical measures to assess physical function and identify disability. Accurate diagnosis hinges on access to ‘normal’ reference values for such measures. However our knowledge of ‘normal’ for many clinical measures in sports medicine is limited. Improved knowledge of normal physical function across the lifespan will assist greatly in the diagnosis and management of pain, disease and disability
3D-4D Interlinkage Of qqq Wave Functions Under 3D Support For Pairwise Bethe-Salpeter Kernels
Using the method of Green's functions within a Bethe-Salpeter framework
characterized by a pairwise qq interaction with a Lorentz-covariant 3D support
to its kernel, the 4D BS wave function for a system of 3 identical relativistic
spinless quarks is reconstructed from the corresponding 3D form which satisfies
a fully connected 3D BSE. This result is a 3-body generalization of a similar
2-body result found earlier under identical conditions of a 3D support to the
corresponding qq-bar BS kernel under Covariant Instaneity (CIA for short). (The
generalization from spinless to fermion quarks is straightforward).
To set the CIA with 3D BS kernel support ansatz in the context of
contemporary approaches to the qqq baryon problem, a model scalar 4D qqq BSE
with pairwise contact interactions to simulate the NJL-Faddeev equations is
worked out fully, and a comparison of both vertex functions shows that the CIA
vertex reduces exactly to the NJL form in the limit of zero spatial range. This
consistency check on the CIA vertex function is part of a fuller accounting for
its mathematical structure whose physical motivation is traceable to the role
of `spectroscopy' as an integral part of the dynamics.Comment: 20 pages, Latex, submitted via the account of K.-C. Yan
Substrate-mediated interaction and electron-induced diffusion of single lithium atoms on Ag(001)
Paracrine delivery of therapeutic biologics for cancer
A fundamental goal of cancer drug delivery is to achieve sufficient levels within the tumour without leading to high systemic concentrations that might cause off-target toxicities. In situ production of protein-based therapeutics by tumour cells provides an attractive alternative to treatment with repeated high bolus injections, as secretion by the tumour itself could provide high local
concentrations that act in a paracrine fashion over an extended duration. For this purpose, we have developed a non-oncolytic adenoviral delivery system that allows for targeting of Ad5 to discrete cell types by redirecting viral tropism to cell surface biomarkers through the use of interchangeable adapters. Furthermore, we recently described the engineering of a protein-based ‘shield’ that is coated on the Ad5 capsid, which, together
with the retargeting adapters, allows for improved tumour specificity
and prevention of viral clearance. To test this delivery
strategy in vivo, SCID-beige mice bearing orthotopic BT474
xenografts were treated with three doses of either a cancerspecific,
non-replicative Ad5 that encodes a secreted anti-HER2
antibody, trastuzumab, in its genome, or with the protein therapeutic
itself (Herceptin®). We have employed state-of-the-art
whole tumour clearing and imaging with confocal microscopy at
high spatial resolution in 3D to assess biodistribution, and large
volumetric imaging has revealed that the secreted therapeutic
diffuses significantly throughout the tumour leading to a therapeutic
effect and delayed tumour outgrowth. Moreover, the systemic
concentration of antibody is significantly reduced with viral
delivery, suggesting that paracrine delivery may be a promising
strategy for delivery of biologics with narrow therapeutic indices
Dimensional structural constants from chiral and conformal bosonization of QCD
We derive the dimensional non-perturbative part of the QCD effective action
for scalar and pseudoscalar meson fields by means of chiral and conformal
bosonization. The related structural coupling constants L_5 and L_8 of the
chiral lagrangian are estimated using general relations which are valid in a
variety of chiral bosonization models without explicit reference to model
parameters. The asymptotics for large scalar fields in QCD is elaborated, and
model-independent constraints on dimensional coupling constants of the
effective meson lagrangian are evaluated. We determine also the interaction
between scalar quarkonium and the gluon density and obtain the scalar
glueball-quarkonium potential.Comment: 21 pages, LaTe
Spatiotemporal and plantar pressure patterns of 1000 healthy individuals aged 3-101 years
Objective The purpose of this study was to establish normative reference values for spatiotemporal and plantar pressure parameters, and to investigate the influence of demographic, anthropometric and physical characteristics. Methods In 1000 healthy males and females aged 3–101 years, spatiotemporal and plantar pressure data were collected barefoot with the Zeno™ walkway and Emed® platform. Correlograms were developed to visualise the relationships between widely reported spatiotemporal and pressure variables with demographic (age, gender), anthropometric (height, mass, waist circumference) and physical characteristics (ankle strength, ankle range of motion, vibration perception) in children aged 3–9 years, adolescents aged 10–19 years, adults aged 20–59 years and older adults aged over 60 years. Results A comprehensive catalogue of 31 spatiotemporal and pressure variables were generated from 1000 healthy individuals. The key findings were that gait velocity was stable during adolescence and adulthood, while children and older adults walked at a comparable slower speed. Peak pressures increased during childhood to older adulthood. Children demonstrated highest peak pressures beneath the rearfoot whilst adolescents, adults and older adults demonstrated highest pressures at the forefoot. Main factors influencing spatiotemporal and pressure parameters were: increased age, height, body mass and waist circumference, as well as ankle dorsiflexion and plantarflexion strength. Conclusion This study has established whole of life normative reference values of widely used spatiotemporal and plantar pressure parameters, and revealed changes to be expected across the lifespan
Fractional flow reserve in patients with intermediate values of Duke Treadmill Score and borderline coronary lesions
Despite the wide usage of exercise ECG tests and Duke Treadmill Score (DTS) in clinical practice, no comparison between this scoring system and Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) has yet been made, particularly in cases of angiographically verified borderline lesions. Thirty patients with single coronary lesions and angiographically assessed borderline stenosis (between 30-70%) and previously calculated intermediate values of DTS between -10 to +4 were examined using FFR. Adequate specificity and sensitivity (0.769 and 0.556, respectively) were in a more narrow range of -0.5 to -10. Sex and age did not have an influence on the DTS values. There was a correlation between the values of FFR and age (r=0.395, p=0.031) and between angiographic assessment of stenosis and quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) (r=0.648, p<0.0001). In the study population, a decision on revascularization could not be based solely on angiographic or QCA assessment of the artery or on the values of DTS
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