90 research outputs found
Conversion electron spectroscopy at the fragment mass analyzer focal plane: Studies of isomeric decays near the proton drip line
The decays of seniority isomers in the N=82 nuclei Er150 and Yb152 and in their respective N=81 isotopes Er149 and Yb151 were studied following mass separation by the Argonne Fragment Mass Analyzer. Conversion electrons were detected with Si p-i-n diodes operated at room temperature. The low-energy isomeric transitions in Yb151,152 have been observed for the first time in the electron spectra. Multipolarity assignments were made for many of the decay rays of the four nuclei
Novel Bound States Treatment of the Two Dimensional Schrodinger Equation with Pseudocentral Plus Multiparameter Noncentral Potential
By converting the rectangular basis potential V(x,y) into the form as
V(r)+V(r, phi) described by the pseudo central plus noncentral potential,
particular solutions of the two dimensional Schrodinger equation in plane-polar
coordinates have been carried out through the analytic approaching technique of
the Nikiforov and Uvarov (NUT). Both the exact bound state energy spectra and
the corresponding bound state wavefunctions of the complete system are
determined explicitly and in closed forms. Our presented results are identical
to those of the previous works and they may also be useful for investigation
and analysis of structural characteristics in a variety of quantum systemsComment: Published, 16 page
Axial Involvement in Psoriatic Arthritis cohort (AXIS): the protocol of a joint project of the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society (ASAS) and the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA)
Background: Involvement of the axial skeleton (sacroiliac joints and spine) is a relatively frequent manifestation associated with psoriatic skin disease, mostly along with involvement of peripheral musculoskeletal structures (peripheral arthritis, enthesitis, dactylitis), which are referred to as psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Data suggest that up to 30% of patients with psoriasis have PsA. Depending on the definition used, the prevalence of axial involvement varies from 25% to 70% of patients with PsA. However, there are currently no widely accepted criteria for axial involvement in PsA.Objective: The overarching aim of the Axial Involvement in Psoriatic Arthritis (AXIS) study is to systematically evaluate clinical and imaging manifestations indicative of axial involvement in patients with PsA and to develop classification criteria and a unified nomenclature for axial involvement in PsA that would allow defining a homogeneous subgroup of patients for research.Design: Prospective, multicenter, multinational, cross-sectional study.Methods and analyses: In this multicenter, multinational, cross-sectional study, eligible patients [adult patients diagnosed with PsA and fulfilling Classification Criteria for Psoriatic Arthritis (CASPAR) with musculoskeletal symptom duration of <= 10 years not treated with biological or targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs] will be recruited prospectively. They will undergo study-related clinical and imaging examinations. Imaging will include radiography and magnetic resonance imaging examinations of sacroiliac joints and spine. Local investigators will evaluate for the presence of axial involvement based on clinical and imaging information which will represent the primary outcome of the study. In addition, imaging will undergo evaluation by central review. Finally, the central clinical committee will determine the presence of axial involvement based on all available information.Ethics: The study will be performed according to the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and International Council for Harmonisation Good Clinical Practice guidelines. The study protocol will be approved by the individual Independent Ethics Committee / Institutional Review Board of participating centers. Written informed consent will be obtained from all included patients.Pathophysiology and treatment of rheumatic disease
Classification of current anticancer immunotherapies
During the past decades, anticancer immunotherapy has evolved from a promising
therapeutic option to a robust clinical reality. Many immunotherapeutic regimens are
now approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines
Agency for use in cancer patients, and many others are being investigated as standalone
therapeutic interventions or combined with conventional treatments in clinical
studies. Immunotherapies may be subdivided into “passive” and “active” based on
their ability to engage the host immune system against cancer. Since the anticancer
activity of most passive immunotherapeutics (including tumor-targeting monoclonal
antibodies) also relies on the host immune system, this classification does not properly
reflect the complexity of the drug-host-tumor interaction. Alternatively, anticancer
immunotherapeutics can be classified according to their antigen specificity. While some
immunotherapies specifically target one (or a few) defined tumor-associated antigen(s),
others operate in a relatively non-specific manner and boost natural or therapy-elicited
anticancer immune responses of unknown and often broad specificity. Here, we propose
a critical, integrated classification of anticancer immunotherapies and discuss the clinical
relevance of these approaches
Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children
Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection ar
Power saturation effects in thick single-element optical limiters
Optical limiters relying on nonlinear absorption or nonlinear refraction are most effective against an incoming laser beam when the active material is thicker than one Rayleigh length. We have found that a variety of thick optical limiter configurations can be modelled by integrating the formulae for optical transmission by thin media, and that the results are exact to the first order in power or irradiance. The limiter behaviour saturates as the optical power increases. For the case of thick irradiance-dependent absorbers and an incident Gaussian beam model, we have also found that the predictions of a simple saturation formula for the optical transmittance agree well with the transmittance values computed using a numerical technique. Under certain conditions this saturation formula is also suitable for describing the transmission of nonlinear refractors, thereby providing a straight-forward technique for modelling limiters over a broad parameter range
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