957 research outputs found
Design and Evaluation of a Student-Facing Learning Dashboard Using Self-Regulated Learning Theory
Assessing stigma in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review of scales used with children and adolescents
Renormalization Group Analysis of \rho-Meson Properties at Finite Density
We calculate the density dependence of the -meson mass and coupling
constant() for -nucleon-nucleon vertex at one loop using the
lagrangian where the -meson is included as a dynamical gauge boson of a
hidden local symmetry. From the condition that thermodynamic potential should
not depend on the arbitrary energy scale, renormalization scale, one can
construct a renormalization group equation for the thermodynamic potential and
argue that the various renormalization group coefficients are functions of the
density or temperature. We calculate the -function for
-nucleon-nucleon coupling constant () and -function
for -meson mass (). We found that the -meson mass
and the coupling constant for drop as density increases in the
low energy limit.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, revised versio
Manageable creativity
This article notes a perception in mainstream management theory and practice that creativity has shifted from being disruptive or destructive to 'manageable'. This concept of manageable creativity in business is reflected in a similar rhetoric in cultural policy, especially towards the creative industries. The article argues that the idea of 'manageable creativity' can be traced back to a 'heroic' and a 'structural' model of creativity. It is argued that the 'heroic' model of creativity is being subsumed within a 'structural' model which emphasises the systems and infrastructure around individual creativity rather than focusing on raw talent and pure content. Yet this structured approach carries problems of its own, in particular a tendency to overlook the unpredictability of creative processes, people and products. Ironically, it may be that some confusion in our policies towards creativity is inevitable, reflecting the paradoxes and transitions which characterise the creative process
Two phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of the efficacy and safety of Astodrimer 1% Gel for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis
Objective
Astodrimer is a dendrimer formulated in a vaginal gel to treat bacterial vaginosis (BV) and prevent recurrence. The objective of these studies was to confirm the efficacy and safety of Astodrimer 1 % Gel for treatment of BV.
Study Design
Women with bacterial vaginosis were randomized 1:1 to Astodrimer 1 % Gel (Study 1 conducted in the United States, NâŻ=âŻ127; Study 2 conducted in the United States, Germany and Belgium, NâŻ=âŻ128) or placebo gel (Study 1, NâŻ=âŻ123; Study 2, NâŻ=âŻ123) at a dose of 5âŻg vaginally once daily for 7 days. The primary endpoint was clinical cure, defined as i) absence of bacterial vaginosis vaginal discharge; ii) <20 % clue cells; and iii) negative whiff test at day 9â12. Secondary efficacy analyses included clinical cure at day 21â30. Other endpoints at days 9â12 and 21â30 included Nugent cure (Nugent score â€3), absence of symptoms, and adverse events. The primary analysis in the modified intent-to-treat population used the Cochran Mantel Haenszel test stratified by analysis center with a two-sided significance level of αâŻ=âŻ.05.
Results
Astodrimer 1 % Gel was superior to placebo for the primary and selected secondary efficacy measures. Clinical cure rates at day 9â12 were 50.4 % (59/117) vs 16.5 % (19/115, PâŻ<âŻ.001) (Study 1) and 56.7 % (68/120) vs 21.4 % (25/117, PâŻ<âŻ.001) (Study 2) for astodrimer vs placebo. At day 21â30, clinical cure results showed a similar trend but the difference to placebo was not statistically significant. Nugent cure rates at day 9â12 were 12.8 % (15/117) vs 2.6 % (3/115, PâŻ=âŻ.004) (Study 1) and 13.3 % (16/120) vs 5.1 % (6/117, PâŻ=âŻ.030) (Study 2) for astodrimer vs placebo. A greater proportion of women receiving astodrimer reported absence of vaginal discharge and absence of vaginal odor at day 9â12 and day 21â30 compared with placebo. Adverse events were generally mild and self-limiting. For the combined studies, adverse events potentially related to treatment occurred in 14.7 % (37/252) of astodrimer patients vs 9.4 % (23/244) for placebo, including vulvovaginal candidiasis reported for 2.4 % (6/252) of astodrimer patients.
Conclusion
These results support a role for Astodrimer 1 % Gel as an effective, safe and well-tolerated treatment for women with bacterial vaginosis
Association of the gut microbiome with kidney function and damage in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL)
Background: The gut microbiome is altered in chronic kidney disease (CKD), potentially contributing to CKD progression and co-morbidities, but population-based studies of the gut microbiome across a wide range of kidney function and damage are lacking. Methods: In the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, gut microbiome was assessed by shotgun sequencing of stool (n = 2,438; 292 with suspected CKD). We examined cross-sectional associations of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), urinary albumin:creatinine (UAC) ratio, and CKD with gut microbiome features. Kidney trait-related microbiome features were interrogated for correlation with serum metabolites (n = 700), and associations of microbiome-related serum metabolites with kidney trait progression were examined in a prospective analysis (n = 3,635). Results: Higher eGFR was associated with overall gut microbiome composition, greater abundance of species from Prevotella, Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, and Eubacterium, and microbial functions related to synthesis of long-chain fatty acids and carbamoyl-phosphate. Higher UAC ratio and CKD were related to lower gut microbiome diversity and altered overall microbiome composition only in participants without diabetes. Microbiome features related to better kidney health were associated with many serum metabolites (e.g., higher indolepropionate, beta-cryptoxanthin; lower imidazole propionate, deoxycholic acids, p-cresol glucuronide). Imidazole propionate, deoxycholic acid metabolites, and p-cresol glucuronide were associated with prospective reductions in eGFR and/or increases in UAC ratio over ~6 y. Conclusions: Kidney function is a significant correlate of the gut microbiome, while the relationship of kidney damage with the gut microbiome depends on diabetes status. Gut microbiome metabolites may contribute to CKD progression
Heavy quarkonium: progress, puzzles, and opportunities
A golden age for heavy quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by
the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an
explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were
chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in
2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that
time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the
broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles
could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII
program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the -factories and CLEO-c
flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the
Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the
deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality,
precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for
continuing investigations. The plethora of newly-found quarkonium-like states
unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such
as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the
spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c\bar{c}, b\bar{b},
and b\bar{c} bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical
approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. The
intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have
emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and
cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review
systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing
directions for ongoing and future efforts.Comment: 182 pages, 112 figures. Editors: N. Brambilla, S. Eidelman, B. K.
Heltsley, R. Vogt. Section Coordinators: G. T. Bodwin, E. Eichten, A. D.
Frawley, A. B. Meyer, R. E. Mitchell, V. Papadimitriou, P. Petreczky, A. A.
Petrov, P. Robbe, A. Vair
T-Cell Immune Dysregulation and Mortality in Women with Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Summary: In women with HIV, higher activation and exhaustion of CD4+ T cells were associated with risk of non-HIV-related mortality during a median of 13.3 years of follow-up, independent of baseline demographic, behavioral, HIV-related, and cardiometabolic factors and longitudinal HIV disease progression. Background: Dysregulation of adaptive immunity is a hallmark of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection that persists on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Few long-term prospective studies have related adaptive immunity impairments to mortality in HIV, particularly in women. Methods: Among 606 women with HIV in the Women's Interagency HIV Study, peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected from 2002 to 2005 underwent multiparameter flow cytometry. Underlying cause of death was ascertained from the National Death Index up to 2018. We examined associations of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell activation (%CD38+HLA-DR+), senescence (%CD57+CD28-), exhaustion (%PD-1+), and nonactivation/normal function (%CD57-CD28+) with natural-cause, HIV-related, and non-HIV-related mortality. Results: At baseline, median participant age was 41, and 67% were on ART. Among 100 deaths during a median of 13.3 years follow-up, 90 were natural-cause (53 non-HIV-related, 37 HIV-related). Higher activation and exhaustion of CD4+ T cells were associated with risk of natural-cause and non-HIV-related mortality, adjusting for age, demographic, behavioral, HIV-related, and cardiometabolic factors at baseline. Additional adjustment for time-varying viral load and CD4+ T-cell count did not attenuate these associations. CD8+ T-cell markers were not associated with any outcomes adjusting for baseline factors. Conclusions: Persistent CD4+ T-cell activation and exhaustion may contribute to excess long-term mortality risk in women with HIV, independent of HIV disease progression
Measurement of the B0-anti-B0-Oscillation Frequency with Inclusive Dilepton Events
The - oscillation frequency has been measured with a sample of
23 million \B\bar B pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II
asymmetric B Factory at SLAC. In this sample, we select events in which both B
mesons decay semileptonically and use the charge of the leptons to identify the
flavor of each B meson. A simultaneous fit to the decay time difference
distributions for opposite- and same-sign dilepton events gives ps.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review Letter
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