A Comparative Study of Pentaquark Interpolating Currents

In a diquark-diquark-antiquark picture of pentaquarks, we use two interpolating currents to calculate the mass of the recently measured $\Xi^{--}$ state in the framework of QCD sum rules. We show that, even though yielding similar values for $m_{\Xi^{--}}$ (and close to the experimental value), these currents differ from each other in what concerns the strength of the pole, convergence of the OPE and sensitivity to the continuum threshold parameter.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, replaced version accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Are Θ+\Theta^+ and the Roper resonance diquark-diquark-antiquark states?

We consider a $[ud]^2\bar{s}$ current in the QCD sum rule framework to study the mass of the recently observed pentaquark state $\Theta^+(1540)$, obtaining good agreement with the experimental value. We also study the mass of the pentaquark $[ud]^2\bar{d}$. Our results are compatible with the interpretation of the $[ud]^2\bar{d}$ state as being the Roper resonance N(1440), as suggested by Jaffe and Wilczek.Comment: 9 pages RevTex4 and 3 eps figures. Revised version accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Integrating precision cancer medicine into healthcare—policy, practice, and research challenges

Abstract Precision medicine (PM) can be defined as a predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory healthcare service delivery model. Recent developments in molecular biology and information technology make PM a reality today through the use of massive amounts of genetic, ‘omics’, clinical, environmental, and lifestyle data. With cancer being one of the most prominent public health threats in developed countries, both the research community and governments have been investing significant time, money, and efforts in precision cancer medicine (PCM). Although PCM research is extremely promising, a number of hurdles still remain on the road to an optimal integration of standardized and evidence-based use of PCM in healthcare systems. Indeed, PCM raises a number of technical, organizational, ethical, legal, social, and economic challenges that have to be taken into account in the development of an appropriate health policy framework. Here, we highlight some of the more salient issues regarding the standards needed for integration of PCM into healthcare systems, and we identify fields where more research is needed before policy can be implemented. Key challenges include, but are not limited to, the creation of new standards for the collection, analysis, and sharing of samples and data from cancer patients, and the creation of new clinical trial designs with renewed endpoints. We believe that these issues need to be addressed as a matter of priority by public health policymakers in the coming years for a better integration of PCM into healthcare

Physical Activity Monitoring in Adolescents With Juvenile Fibromyalgia: Findings From a Clinical Trial of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.

Juvenile fibromyalgia (JFM) is a chronic musculoskeletal pain condition that is associated with reduced physical function. Recent research has demonstrated that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective in improving daily functioning among adolescents with JFM. However, it is not known whether these improvements were accompanied by increased physical activity levels. Our objective was to analyze secondary data from a randomized clinical trial of CBT to examine whether CBT was associated with improvement in objectively measured physical activity and whether actigraphy indices corresponded with self-reported functioning among adolescents with JFM. Participants were 114 adolescents (ages 11-18 years) recruited from pediatric rheumatology clinics that met criteria for JFM and were enrolled in a clinical trial. Subjects were randomly (1:1) assigned to receive either CBT or fibromyalgia education (FE). Participants wore a hip-mounted accelerometer for 1 week as part of their baseline and posttreatment assessments. The final sample included 68 subjects (94% female, mean age 15.2 years) for whom complete actigraphy data were obtained. Actigraphy measures were not found to correspond with self-reported improvements in functioning. While self-reported functioning improved in the CBT condition compared to FE, no significant changes were seen in either group for activity counts, sedentary, moderate, or vigorous activity. The CBT group had significantly lower peak and light activity at posttreatment. Actigraphy monitoring provides a unique source of information about patient outcomes. CBT intervention was not associated with increased physical activity in adolescents with JFM, indicating that combining CBT with interventions to increase physical activity may enhance treatment effects. Copyright © 2013 by the American College of Rheumatology

Physical Activity Monitoring in Adolescents With Juvenile Fibromyalgia: Findings From a Clinical Trial of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.

Juvenile fibromyalgia (JFM) is a chronic musculoskeletal pain condition that is associated with reduced physical function. Recent research has demonstrated that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective in improving daily functioning among adolescents with JFM. However, it is not known whether these improvements were accompanied by increased physical activity levels. Our objective was to analyze secondary data from a randomized clinical trial of CBT to examine whether CBT was associated with improvement in objectively measured physical activity and whether actigraphy indices corresponded with self-reported functioning among adolescents with JFM. Participants were 114 adolescents (ages 11-18 years) recruited from pediatric rheumatology clinics that met criteria for JFM and were enrolled in a clinical trial. Subjects were randomly (1:1) assigned to receive either CBT or fibromyalgia education (FE). Participants wore a hip-mounted accelerometer for 1 week as part of their baseline and posttreatment assessments. The final sample included 68 subjects (94% female, mean age 15.2 years) for whom complete actigraphy data were obtained. Actigraphy measures were not found to correspond with self-reported improvements in functioning. While self-reported functioning improved in the CBT condition compared to FE, no significant changes were seen in either group for activity counts, sedentary, moderate, or vigorous activity. The CBT group had significantly lower peak and light activity at posttreatment. Actigraphy monitoring provides a unique source of information about patient outcomes. CBT intervention was not associated with increased physical activity in adolescents with JFM, indicating that combining CBT with interventions to increase physical activity may enhance treatment effects. Copyright © 2013 by the American College of Rheumatology

Unlocking the Potential of High-Throughput Experimentation for Electrochemistry with a Standardized Microscale Reactor

Organic electrochemistry has emerged as an enabling and sustainable technology in modern organic synthesis. Despite the recent renaissance of electrosynthesis, the broad adoption of electrochemistry in the synthetic community and, especially in industrial settings, has been hindered by the dearth of general, standardized platforms for high-throughput experimentation (HTE). Herein, we disclose the design of the HTe-Chem, a high-throughput microscale electrochemical reactor that is compatible with existing HTE infrastructure, and enables rapid evaluation of a broad array of electrochemical reaction parameters. Utilizing the HTe-Chem to accelerate reaction optimization, reaction discovery, and chemical library synthesis is illustrated using a suite of oxidative and reductive transformations under constant current, constant voltage, and electrophotochemical conditions