VMD, the WZW Lagrangian and ChPT: The Third Mixing Angle

We show that the Hidden Local Symmetry Model, supplemented with well-known procedures for breaking flavor SU(3) and nonet symmetry, provides all the information contained in the standard Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT) Lagrangian ${\cal L}^{(0)}+{\cal L}^{(1)}$. This allows to rely on radiative decays of light mesons ($VP\gamma$ and $P \gamma\gamma$) in order to extract some numerical information of relevance to ChPT: a value for $\Lambda_1=0.20 \pm 0.04$, a quark mass ratio of $\simeq 21.2 \pm 2.4$, and a negligible departure from the Gell-Mann--Okubo mass formula. The mixing angles are $\theta_8=-20.40^\circ \pm 0.96^\circ$ and $\theta_0=-0.05^\circ \pm 0.99^\circ$. We also give the values of all decay constants. It is shown that the common mixing pattern with one mixing angle $\theta_P$ is actually quite appropriate and algebraically related to the $\eta/\eta'$ mixing pattern presently preferred by the ChPT community. For instance the traditional $\theta_P$ is functionally related to the ChPT $\theta_8$ and fulfills $\theta_P \simeq \theta_8/2$. The vanishing of $\theta_0$, supported by all data on radiative decays, gives a novel relation between mixing angles and the violation of nonet symmetry in the pseudoscalar sector. Finally, it is shown that the interplay of nonet symmetry breaking through U(3) \ra SU(3)$\times$ U(1) satisfies all requirements of the physics of radiative decays without any need for additional glueballs.Comment: 31 pages, 1 figur

Self reported aggravating activities do not demonstrate a consistent directional pattern in chronic non specific low back pain patients: An observational study

Question: Do the self-reported aggravating activities of chronic non-specific low back pain patients demonstrate a consistent directional pattern? Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Participants: 240 chronic non specific low back pain patients. Outcome measure: We invited experienced clinicians to classify each of the three self-nominated aggravating activities from the Patient Specific Functional Scale by the direction of lumbar spine movement. Patients were described as demonstrating a directional pattern if all nominated activities moved the spine into the same direction. Analyses were undertaken to determine if the proportion of patients demonstrating a directional pattern was greater than would be expected by chance. Results: In some patients, all tasks did move the spine into the same direction, but this proportion did not differ from chance (p = 0.328). There were no clinical or demographic differences between those who displayed a directional pattern and those who did not (all p > 0.05). Conclusion: Using patient self-reported aggravating activities we were unable to demonstrate the existence of a consistent pattern of adverse movement in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain

Projecting prevalence by stage of care for prostate cancer and estimating future health service needs: protocol for a modelling study

Introduction Current strategies for the management of prostate cancer are inadequate in Australia. We will, in this study, estimate current service needs and project the future needs for prostate cancer patients in Australia. Methods and analysis First, we will project the future prevalence of prostate cancer for 2010-2018 using data for 1972-2008 from the New South Wales (NSW) Central Cancer Registry. These projections, based on modelled incidence and survival estimates, will be estimated using PIAMOD (Prevalence, Incidence, Analysis MODel) software. Then the total prevalence will be decomposed into five stages of care: initial care, continued monitoring, recurrence, last year of life and long-term survivor. Finally, data from the NSW Prostate Cancer Care and Outcomes Study, including data on patterns of treatment and associated quality of life, will be used to estimate the type and amount of services that will be needed by prostate cancer patients in each stage of care. In addition, Central Cancer Registry episode data will be used to estimate transition rates from localised or locally advanced prostate cancer to metastatic disease. Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits data, linked with Prostate Cancer Care and Outcomes Study data, will be used to complement the Cancer Registry episode data. The methods developed will be applied Australia-wide to obtain national estimates of the future prevalence of prostate cancer for different stages of clinical care. Ethics and dissemination This study was approved by the NSW Population and Health Services Research Ethics Committee. Results of the study will be disseminated widely to different interest groups and organisations through a report, conference presentations and peer-reviewed articles.This work is supported by the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (grant number: PCFA – YI 0410). Both David Smith and Xue Qin Yu are supported by an Australian NHMRC Training Fellowship (Ref 1016598, 550002). Mark Clements is supported by an Australian NHMRC Career Development Award (Ref 471491)

Apoplasmic and simplasmic phloem unloading mechanisms: Do they co-exist in Angeleno plums under demanding environmental conditions?

Biophysical fruit growth depends on a balance among the vascular and transpiration flows entering/exiting the fruit via phloem, xylem and through the epidermis. There is no information on vascular flows of Japanese plums, a species characterized by high-sugar content of its fruit at harvest. Vascular flows of Angeleno plums were monitored by fruit gauges during late fruit development, under the dry environment of the Goulburn Valley, Victoria, Australia. Phloem, xylem flows and skin transpiratory losses were determined, as well as diurnal leaf, stem and fruit pressure potentials. Fruit seasonal development, skin conductance and dry matter accumulation were also monitored. Fruit grew following a double-sigmoid pattern, but fruit size increased only 3.1 g over the last 3 weeks of development. Fruit grew very little in the morning, primarily due to phloem inflows (0.05 g fruit 121 hr 121 ), while water left the fruit via the xylem. Negligible skin transpiration was recorded for vapour pressure deficit (VPD) values below 3 kPa. This growth pattern, in the absence of skin transpiration, suggests apoplastic phloem unloading. However, at VPD values over 3 kPa (e.g. from early afternoon to a peak around 18:00 h), transpiratory losses through the skin (up to 0.25 g fruit 121 hr 121 ) caused fruit to shrink, leading to enhanced phloem and xylem inflows (ca. 0.15 g fruit 121 hr 121 ), a scenario that would correspond to symplastic phloem unloading. Over 24 h the fruit showed a slightly negative total growth, consistent with fruit growth measured in situ during the season at weekly intervals. A few fruit species are known to alter their phloem unloading mechanism, switching from symplastic to apoplastic during the season. Our data support the coexistence in Japanese plum of different phloem unloading strategies within the same day

The Young Cluster Population of M82 Region B

We present observations obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on board the Hubble Space Telescope of the "fossil" starburst region B in the nearby starburst galaxy M82. By comparing UBVI photometry with models, we derive ages and extinctions for 35 U-band selected star clusters. We find that the peak epoch of cluster formation occurred ~ 150 Myr ago, in contrast to earlier work that found a peak formation age of 1.1 Gyr. The difference is most likely due to our inclusion of U-band data, which are essential for accurate age determinations of young cluster populations. We further show that the previously reported turnover in the cluster luminosity function is probably due to the neglect of the effect of extended sources on the detection limit. The much younger cluster ages we derive clarifies the evolution of the M82 starburst. The M82-B age distribution now overlaps with the ages of: the nuclear starburst; clusters formed on the opposite side of the disk; and the last encounter with M81, some 220 Myr ago.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

A comparison of inferential analysis methods for multilevel studies: implications for drawing conclusions in animal welfare science

Investigations comparing the behaviour and welfare of animals in different environments have led to mixed and often conflicting results. These could arise from genuine differences in welfare, poor validity of indicators, low statistical power, publication bias, or inappropriate statistical analysis. Our aim was to investigate the effects of using four approaches for inferential analysis of datasets of varying size on model outcomes and potential conclusions. We considered aggression in 864 growing pigs over six weeks as measured by ear and body injury score and relationships with: less and more enriched environments, pig's relative weight, and sex. Pigs were housed in groups of 18 in one of four pens, replicating the experiment 12 times. We applied four inferential models that either used a summary statistic approach, or else fully or partially accounted for complexities in study design. We tested models using both the full dataset (n = 864) and also using small sample sizes (n = 72). The most appropriate inferential model was a mixed effects, repeated measures model to compare ear and body score. Statistical models that did not acco unt for the correlation between repeated measures and/or the random effects from replications and pens led to spurious associations between environmental factors and indicators of aggression, which were not supported by the initial exploratory analysis. For analyses on smaller datasets (n = 72), due to the effect size and number of independent factors, there was insufficient power to determine statistically significant associations. Based on the mixed effects, repeated measures models, higher body injury scores were associated with more enrichment (coef. est. = 0.09, p = 0.02); weight (coef. est. = 0.05, p < 0.001); pen location on the right side (coef. est. = 0.08, p = 0.03) and at the front of the experimental room (coef. est. = 0.11, p = 0.003). By comparison, lower ear injury scores were associated with more enrichment (coef. est. = -0.51, p = 0.005) and pen location at the front of the experimental room (coef. est. = -0.4, p = 0.02). These observed differences support the hypothesis that injuries to the body and ears arise from different risk factors. Although calculation of the minimum required sample size prior to conducting an experiment and selection of the inferential analysis method will contribute to the validity of the study results, conflict between the outcomes will require further investigation via different methods such as sensitivity and specificity analysis

Isotopic analysis of faunal material from South Uist, Western Isles, Scotland

This paper reports on the results from stable isotope analysis of faunal bone collagen from a number of Iron Age and later sites on the island of South Uist, in the Western Isles, Scotland. This preliminary investigation into the isotopic signatures of the fauna is part of a larger project to model the interaction between humans, animals, and the broader environment in the Western Isles. The results demonstrate that the island fauna data fall within the range of expected results for the UK, with the terrestrial herbivorous diets of cattle and sheep confi rmed. The isotopic composition for pigs suggests that some of these animals had an omnivorous diet, whilst a single red deer value might be suggestive of the consumption of marine foods, such as by grazing on seaweed. However, further analysis is needed in order to verify this anomalous isotopic ratio

Pig producer perspectives on the use of meat inspection as an animal health and welfare diagnostic tool in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

peer-reviewedBackground Currently, there is growing interest in developing ante and post mortem meat inspection (MI) to incorporate measures of pig health and welfare for use as a diagnostic tool on pig farms. However, the success of the development of the MI process requires stakeholder engagement with the process. Knowledge gaps and issues of trust can undermine the effective exchange and utilisation of information across the supply chain. A social science research methodology was employed to establish stakeholder perspectives towards the development of MI to include measures of pig health and welfare. In this paper the findings of semi-structured telephone interviews with 18 pig producers from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are presented. Results Producers recognised the benefit of the utilisation of MI data as a health and welfare diagnostic tool. This acknowledgment, however, was undermined for some by dissatisfaction with the current system of MI information feedback, by trust and fairness concerns, and by concerns regarding the extent to which data would be used in the producers’ interests. Tolerance of certain animal welfare issues may also have a negative impact on how producers viewed the potential of MI data. The private veterinary practitioner was viewed as playing a vital role in assisting them with the interpretation of MI data for herd health planning. Conclusions The development of positive relationships based on trust, commitment and satisfaction across the supply chain may help build a positive environment for the effective utilisation of MI data in improving pig health and welfare. The utilisation of MI as a diagnostic tool would benefit from the development of a communication strategy aimed at building positive relationships between stakeholders in the pig industry.The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the Irish Government’s National Development Plan 2007–2013 (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Competitive Research Programme – RSF 11/S/107)