Optical effects of spacecraft-environment interaction Spectrometric observations of the DE-2 satellite

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76678/1/AIAA-25728-876.pd

Self- generated disorder and structural glass formation in homopolymer globules

We have investigated the interrelation between the spin glasses and the structural glasses. Spin glasses in this case are random magnets without reflection symmetry (e.g. $p$ - spin interaction spin glasses and Potts glasses) which contain quenched disorder, whereas the structural glasses are here exemplified by the homopolymeric globule, which can be viewed as a liquid of connected molecules on nano scales. It is argued that the homopolymeric globule problem can be mapped onto a disorder field theoretical model whose effective Hamiltonian resembles the corresponding one for the spin glass model. In this sense the disorder in the globule is self - generated (in contrast to spin glasses) and can be related with competitive interactions (virial coefficients of different signs) and the chain connectivity. The work is aimed at giving a quantitative description of this analogy. We have investigated the phase diagram of the homopolymeric globule where the transition line from the liquid to glassy globule is treated in terms of the replica symmetry breaking paradigm. The configurational entropy temperature dependence is also discussed.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Measurement of the Omega_c Lifetime

We present the measurement of the lifetime of the Omega_c we have performed using three independent data samples from two different decay modes. Using a Sigma- beam of 340 GeV/c we have obtained clean signals for the Omega_c decaying into Xi- K- pi+ pi+ and Omega- pi+ pi- pi+, avoiding topological cuts normally used in charm analysis. The short but measurable lifetime of the Omega_c is demonstrated by a clear enhancement of the signals at short but finite decay lengths. Using a continuous maximum likelihood method we determined the lifetime to be tau(Omega_c) = 55 +13-11(stat) +18-23(syst) fs. This makes the Omega_c the shortest living weakly decaying particle observed so far. The short value of the lifetime confirms the predicted pattern of the charmed baryon lifetimes and demonstrates that the strong interaction plays a vital role in the lifetimes of charmed hadrons.Comment: 15 pages, including 7 figures; gzipped, uuencoded postscrip

Window of opportunity in psoriatic arthritis:The earlier the better?

Objectives To investigate whether there is a window of opportunity for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients and to assess which patient characteristics are associated with a longer diagnostic delay. Methods All newly diagnosed, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug-naïve PsA patients who participated in the Dutch southwest Early PsA cohoRt and had ≥3 years of follow-up were studied. First, total delay was calculated as the time period between symptom onset and PsA diagnosis made by a rheumatologist and then split into patient and physician delays. The total delay was categorised into short (&lt;12 weeks), intermediate (12 weeks to 1 year) or long (&gt;1 year). These groups were compared on clinical (Minimal Disease Activity (MDA) and Disease Activity index for PSoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA) remission) and patient-reported outcomes during 3 years follow-up. Results 708 PsA patients were studied of whom 136 (19%), 237 (33%) and 335 (47%) had a short, intermediate and long total delay, respectively. Patient delay was 1.0 month and physician delay was 4.5 months. Patients with a short delay were more likely to achieve MDA (OR 2.55, p=0.003) and DAPSA remission (OR 2.35,p=0.004) compared with PsA patients with a long delay. Patient-reported outcomes showed numerical but non-significant differences between the short and long delay groups. Female patients and those presenting with enthesitis, chronic back pain or normal C-reactive protein (CRP) had a longer delay. Conclusions In PsA, referral and diagnosis within 1 year is associated with better clinical outcomes, suggesting the presence of a window of opportunity. The most gain in referral could be obtained in physician delay and in females, patients with enthesitis, chronic back pain or normal CRP.</p

Window of opportunity in psoriatic arthritis:The earlier the better?

Objectives To investigate whether there is a window of opportunity for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients and to assess which patient characteristics are associated with a longer diagnostic delay. Methods All newly diagnosed, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug-naïve PsA patients who participated in the Dutch southwest Early PsA cohoRt and had ≥3 years of follow-up were studied. First, total delay was calculated as the time period between symptom onset and PsA diagnosis made by a rheumatologist and then split into patient and physician delays. The total delay was categorised into short (&lt;12 weeks), intermediate (12 weeks to 1 year) or long (&gt;1 year). These groups were compared on clinical (Minimal Disease Activity (MDA) and Disease Activity index for PSoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA) remission) and patient-reported outcomes during 3 years follow-up. Results 708 PsA patients were studied of whom 136 (19%), 237 (33%) and 335 (47%) had a short, intermediate and long total delay, respectively. Patient delay was 1.0 month and physician delay was 4.5 months. Patients with a short delay were more likely to achieve MDA (OR 2.55, p=0.003) and DAPSA remission (OR 2.35,p=0.004) compared with PsA patients with a long delay. Patient-reported outcomes showed numerical but non-significant differences between the short and long delay groups. Female patients and those presenting with enthesitis, chronic back pain or normal C-reactive protein (CRP) had a longer delay. Conclusions In PsA, referral and diagnosis within 1 year is associated with better clinical outcomes, suggesting the presence of a window of opportunity. The most gain in referral could be obtained in physician delay and in females, patients with enthesitis, chronic back pain or normal CRP.</p

Longitudinal associations between keeping a secret and psychosocial adjustment in adolescence

Increasing bodies of evidence suggest that keeping secrets may be detrimental to well-being and adjustment, whereas confiding secrets may alleviate the detriments of secrecy and benefit well-being and adjustment. However, few studies have addressed the consequences of keeping and confiding secrets simultaneously, and even fewer have done so longitudinally. This article reports on a two-wave longitudinal survey study among 278 adolescents (aged 13-18 years) that examined the associations of keeping and confiding a specific secret with psychosocial adjustment. Results confirmed a hypothesized longitudinal contribution of keeping a secret all to oneself to psychosocial problems, including depressive mood, low self-concept clarity, low self-control, loneliness, and poor relationship quality. Furthermore, confiding versus continuing to keep a secret all to oneself was associated with decreased psychosocial problems after six months, whereas starting to keep a secret versus not doing so was associated with increased psychosocial problems. These results suggest that the keeping or confiding of secrets may affect adolescents' psychosocial well-being and adjustment. © 2008 The International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development

Charge Asymmetries for D, D_s and Lambda_c Production in Sigma- - Nucleus Interactions at 340 GeV/c

CERN experiment WA89 has studied charmed particles produced by a Sigma^- beam at 340 GeV/c on nuclear targets. Production of particles which have light quarks in common with the beam is compared to production of those which do not. Considerable production asymmetries between D^- and D^p, D_s^ and D_s^+ and Lambda_c and Antilambda_c are observed. The results are compared with pion beam data and with theoretical calculations.Comment: LaTeX ; 16 pages including 4 ps figure

Cystic renal-epithelial derived induced pluripotent stem cells from polycystic kidney disease patients

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common inherited kidney disease, leading to kidney failure in most patients. In approximately 85% of cases, the disease is caused by mutations in PKD1. How dysregulation of PKD1 leads to cyst formation on a molecular level is unknown. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are a powerful tool for in vitro modeling of genetic disorders. Here, we established ADPKD patient-specific iPSCs to study the function of PKD1 in kidney development and cyst formation in vitro. Somatic mutations are proposed to be the initiating event of cyst formation, and therefore iPSCs were derived from cystic renal epithelial cells rather than fibroblasts. Mutation analysis of the ADPKD iPSCs revealed germline mutations in PKD1 but no additional somatic mutations in PKD1/PKD2. Although several somatic mutations in other genes implicated in ADPKD were identified in cystic renal epithelial cells, only few of these mutations were present in iPSCs, indicating a heterogeneous mutational landscape, and possibly in vitro cell selection before and during the reprogramming process. Whole-genome DNA methylation analysis indicated that iPSCs derived from renal epithelial cells maintain a kidney-specific DNA methylation memory. In addition, comparison of PKD1+/− and control iPSCs revealed differences in DNA methylation associated with the disease history. In conclusion, we generated and characterized iPSCs derived from cystic and healthy control renal epithelial cells, which can be used for in vitro modeling of kidney development in general and cystogenesis in particular

Localization of the human Chromosome 5q genes Gabra-1, Gabrg-2, Il-4, Il-5 , and Irf-1 on mouse Chromosome 11

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46991/1/335_2004_Article_BF00350629.pd