4,410 research outputs found
Bounds on R-parity violating supersymmetric couplings from leptonic and semi-leptonic meson decays
We present a comprehensive update of the bounds on R-Parity violating
supersymmetric couplings from lepton-flavour- and lepton-number-violating decay
processes. We consider tau and mu decays as well as leptonic and semi-leptonic
decays of mesons. We present several new bounds resulting from tau, eta and
Kaon decays and correct some results in the literature concerning B-meson
decays.Comment: 30 pages; changed title, updated some bounds from the literature from
different references, added reference
Correlation of the International Prostate Symptom Score bother question with the Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Impact Index in a clinical practice setting
To evaluate the association between the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) bother question (BQ) and a validated disease-specific quality-of-life questionnaire, the Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) Impact Index (BPH-II), using the BPH Registry and Patient Survey database. PATIENTS AND METHODS The BPH Registry and Patient Survey is a multicentre, longitudinal, observational database of management practices and patient outcomes in a population of patients with BPH in the USA, managed with watchful waiting or pharmacotherapy. Men enrolled in the BPH Registry who completed the IPSS BQ and the four-item BPH-II at enrolment were identified. The association between the IPSS BQ score and the BPH Impact Index was assessed using Spearman rank correlation. RESULTS At baseline (enrolment visit), 6439 men (mean age 66 years) completed the IPSS BQ and the BPH-II. The mean (sd) score of the IPSS BQ was 2.5 (1.4) and of the BPH-II was 2.8 (2.8). Based on responses to the BPH-II, at least half the men reported that their urinary symptoms were associated with physical discomfort, worry about their health, and bothersomeness. The IPSS BQ score was significantly correlated ( P < 0.001) with the BPH-II ( r = 0.68) and each of its four questions (physical discomfort, r = 0.52; worry about health, r = 0.53; bothersomeness of trouble with urination, r = 0.67; and time kept from usual activities, r = 0.44). CONCLUSIONS The IPSS BQ score has a strong and positive correlation with the BPH-II among men enrolled in the BPH Registry. The IPSS BQ is a convenient tool for assessing disease-specific quality of life when determining treatment strategies and evaluating treatment outcomes in men with BPH.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72931/1/j.1464-410X.2008.07574.x.pd
Comment on "Fisheries Management"
The recent article by O’Leary et al. (2011) raises an important question about the relationship between science and those who manage fisheries. They contend that fishery managers do not give due cognisance to scientific advice and consistently set Total Allowable Catches (TACs) above values advised by scientists (which they define as ‘‘political adjustment’’). The authors claim that the consequence of this is that there is a high probability of stock collapse in the next 40 years. They use a simulation model to argue that this probability may exceed 80% at the mean level of political adjustment adopted by managers, depending on the degree of environmental variability and life history strategy of the fish
Dynamical Interactions and the Black Hole Merger Rate of the Universe
Binary black holes can form efficiently in dense young stellar clusters, such
as the progenitors of globular clusters, via a combination of gravitational
segregation and cluster evaporation. We use simple analytic arguments supported
by detailed N-body simulations to determine how frequently black holes born in
a single stellar cluster should form binaries, be ejected from the cluster, and
merge through the emission of gravitational radiation. We then convolve this
``transfer function'' relating cluster formation to black hole mergers with (i)
the distribution of observed cluster masses and (ii) the star formation history
of the universe, assuming that a significant fraction gcl of star formation
occurs in clusters and that a significant fraction gcand of clusters undergo
this segregation and evaporation process. We predict future ground--based
gravitational wave (GW) detectors could observe ~500 (gcl/0.5) (gcand/0.1)
double black hole mergers per year, and the presently operating LIGO
interferometer would have a chance (50%) at detecting a merger during its first
full year of science data. More realistically, advanced LIGO and similar
next-generation gravitational wave observatories provide unique opportunities
to constrain otherwise inaccessible properties of clusters formed in the early
universe.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in PRD Rapid Communication
Understanding the organizational barriers of promoting electronic delivery options in the United States healthcare system: an insurer’s perspective
Consumer-driven technologies are rapidly transforming how industries conduct business both internally and externally. From online banking to retail, the broad adoption of smart devices, internet access, and wearables amongst consumers has shifted the way enterprises develop software and conduct information technology (IT) operations. Although successful adoption of consumer-driven technologies is a reality for many industries, the healthcare platform is lagging. The promotion and adoption of online patient engagement is widely perceived to be one of the biggest hurdles faced by healthcare organizations (Carr, 2014). While setting up patient portals and electronic delivery options can be relatively simple, promoting consumer utilization and achieving widespread use of these portals use has posed challenges. The healthcare paradigm has shifted in recent decades from viewing the patient as incidental to the delivery of healthcare to a more patient-centric approach. The previous model of indirectly funding Medicare, Medicaid, or employers has been noted as one of the greatest flaws of the healthcare system by contributing to cost inflation (Carr, 2014). Recent trends have promoted patient-empowered care, but have generally transferred the burden of cost to the individual. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) stimulated this shift by creating insurance exchanges which allow insurers to directly reach consumers; however, these readily-available healthcare options now require higher monthly premium payments from shoppers. This new model proposes that as patients become increasingly financially liable, they become more invested in their healthcare trajectories
Isobaric multiplet yrast energies and isospin non-conserving forces
The isovector and isotensor energy differences between yrast states of
isobaric multiplets in the lower half of the region are quantitatively
reproduced in a shell model context. The isospin non-conserving nuclear
interactions are found to be at least as important as the Coulomb potential.
Their isovector and isotensor channels are dominated by J=2 and J=0 pairing
terms, respectively. The results are sensitive to the radii of the states,
whose evolution along the yrast band can be accurately followed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Superseeds second part of nucl-th/010404
EMX2 regulates sizes and positioning of the primary sensory and motor areas in neocortex by direct specification of cortical progenitors
Genetic studies of neocortical area patterning are limited, because mice deficient for candidate regulatory genes die before areas emerge and have other compli-cating issues. To define roles for the homeodomain transcription factor EMX2, we engineered nestin-Emx2 transgenic mice that overexpress Emx2 in cortical pro-genitors coincident with expression of endogenous Emx2 and survive postnatally. Cortical size, lamina-tion, thalamus, and thalamocortical pathfinding are normal in homozygous nestin-Emx2 mice. However, primary sensory and motor areas are disproportion-ately altered in size and shift rostrolaterally. Heterozygous transgenics have similar but smaller changes. Opposite changes are found in heterozygous Emx2 knockout mice. Fgf8 expression in the commissural plate of nestin-Emx2 mice is indistinguishable from wild-type, but Pax6 expression is downregulated in rostral cortical progenitors, suggesting that EMX2 re-pression of PAX6 specification of rostral identities contributes to reduced rostral areas. We conclude that EMX2 levels in cortical progenitors disproportionately specify sizes and positions of primary cortical areas
Time scales and modes of reef lagoon infilling in the Maldives and controls on the onset of reef island formation
Faro are annular reefs, with reef flats near sea level and lagoons of variable depth, characteristic of both the perimeter and lagoons of Maldivian (Indian Ocean) atolls. Their geomorphic development remains largely unknown, but where faro lagoons (termed velu in Maldivian) have infilled and support reef islands, these provide precious habitable land. Understanding the timing and modes of velu infilling is thus directly relevant to questions about reef island development and vulnerability. Here we use a chronostratigraphic data set obtained from a range of atoll-interior faro with partially to fully filled velu (including those with reef islands) from Baa (South Maalhosmadulu) Atoll, Maldives, to determine time scales and modes of velu infilling, and to identify the temporal and spatial thresholds that control reef island formation. Our data suggest a systematic relationship between faro size, velu infilling, and island development. These relationships likely vary between atolls as a function of atoll lagoon depth, but in Baa Atoll, our data set indicates the following faro-size relationships exist: (1) faros <∼0.5 km2 have velu that were completely infilled by ca. 3000 calibrated years B.P. (cal yr B.P.) with islands having established on these deposits by ca. 2.5 cal kyr B.P.; (2) faros >0.5 km2 but <∼1.25 km2 have velu in late stages of infill, may support unvegetated sand cays and, given sufficient sand supply, may evolve into larger, more permanent islands; and (3) faros >∼1.25 km2 have unfilled (deeper) velu which might only infill over long time scales and which are thus unlikely to support new island initiation. These new observations, when combined with previously published data on Maldivian reef island development, suggest that while the velu of the largest faro are unlikely to fill over the next few centuries (at least), other faro with near-infilled velu may provide important foci for future reef-island building, even under present highstand (and slightly rising) sea levels
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Crowdsourcing in the Quaternary sea level community: insights from the Pliocene
In order to establish the ‘fingerprint’ of past sea level changes, many field measurements of paleo sea level from globally distributed locations are needed. It is because this problem requires a geographically expansive database that it becomes an ideal candidate for crowdsourcing techniques. In order to crowdsource sea level data from the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period, we developed three tools: PlioWiki, RSLcalc and RSLmap. PlioWiki is a web portal, open to contributions, where investigators can share knowledge on Pliocene to Quaternary relative sea levels. RSLcalc is a standardized, ready-to-use tool for field geologists to log their own sea level field observations and, if they desire, submit new data to an open access database of relative sea level markers. RSLmap allows one to visualize and query the database built with RSLcalc on a Google Map interface. Here we describe these tools and discuss the advantages of crowdsourcing, relative to traditional approaches, for the creation of sea level databases for any time period
Recoiled star clusters in the Milky Way halo: N-body simulations and a candidate search through SDSS
During the formation of the Milky Way, > 100 central black holes (BHs) may
have been ejected from their small host galaxies as a result of asymmetric
gravitational wave emission. We previously showed that many of these BHs are
surrounded by a compact cluster of stars that remained bound to the BH during
the ejection process. In this paper, we perform long term N-body simulations of
these star clusters to determine the distribution of stars in these clusters
today. These numerical simulations, reconciled with our Fokker-Planck
simulations, show that stellar density profile follows a power-law with slope ~
-2.15, and show that large angle scattering and tidal disruptions remove 20 -
90% of the stars by ~10^10 yr. We then analyze the photometric and
spectroscopic properties of recoiled clusters accounting for the small number
of stars in the clusters. We use our results to perform a systematic search for
candidates in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find no spectroscopic
candidates, in agreement with our expectations from the completeness of the
survey. Using generic photometric models of present day clusters we identify
~100 recoiling cluster candidates. Follow-up spectroscopy would be able to
determine the nature of these candidates.Comment: Final submission to MNRAS. 15 Pages, 10 figures. Includes new
material on resonant relaxation and incorporates recommendations of the
refere
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