Dimensional Reduction in Non-Supersymmetric Theories

It is shown that regularisation by dimensional reduction is a viable alternative to dimensional regularisation in non-supersymmetric theories.Comment: 13 pages, phyzzx, LTH 32

Mitochondrial function and oxygen supply in normal and in chronically ischemic muscle: A combined 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy and near infrared spectroscopy study in vivo

AbstractPurpose: We used 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a means of quantifying abnormalities in calf muscle oxygenation and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) turnover in peripheral vascular disease (PVD). Methods: Eleven male patients with PVD (mean age, 65 years; range, 55-76 years) and nine male control subjects of similar age were observed in a case-control study in vascular outpatients. Inclusion criteria were more than 6 months' calf claudication (median, 1.5 years; range, 0.6-18 years); proven femoropopliteal or iliofemoral occlusive or stenotic disease; maximum treadmill walking distance (2 km/h, 10° gradient) of 50 to 230 m (mean, 112 m); ankle-brachial pressure index of 0.8 or less during exercise (mean, 0.47; range, 0.29-0.60). Exclusion criteria included diabetes mellitus, anemia, and magnet contraindications. Simultaneous 31P MRS and NIRS of lateral gastrocnemius was conducted during 2 to 4 minutes of voluntary 0.5 Hz isometric plantarflexion at 50% and 75% maximum voluntary contraction force (MVC), followed by 5 minutes recovery. Each subject was studied three times, and the results were combined. Results: Compared with control subjects, patients with PVD showed (1) normal muscle cross-sectional area, MVC, ATP turnover, and contractile efficiency (ATP turnover per force/area); (2) larger phosphocreatine (PCr) changes during exercise (ie, increased shortfall of oxidative ATP synthesis) and slower PCr recovery (47% ± 7% [mean ± SEM] decrease in functional capacity for oxidative ATP synthesis, P =.001); (3) faster deoxygenation during exercise and slower postexercise reoxygenation (59% ± 7% decrease in rate constant, P =.0009), despite reduced oxidative ATP synthesis; (4) correlation between PCr and NIRS recovery rate constants (P <.02); and (5) correlations between smaller walking distance, slower PCr recovery, and reduced MVC (P <.001). The precision of the key measurements (rate constants and contractile efficiency) was 12% to 18% interstudy and 30% to 40% intersubject. Conclusion: The primary lesion in oxygen supply dominates muscle metabolism. Reduced force-generation in patients who are affected more may protect muscle from metabolic stress. (J Vasc Surg 2001;34:1103-10.

External validity of a prediction rule for residual mass histology in testicular cancer: An evaluation for good prognosis patients

We assessed the external validity of a prediction rule for nonseminomatous testicular cancer patients. The rule was developed to predict the probability of retroperitoneal metastases being benign (only necrosis/fibrosis) after chemotherapy treatment. Patients with a high probability of benign residual masses might be offered surveillance as opp

Outcomes of hospital admissions among frail older people: a 2-year cohort study

Background ‘Frailty crises’ are a common cause of hospital admission among older people and there is significant focus on admission avoidance. However, identifying frailty before a crisis occurs is challenging, making it difficult to effectively target community services. Better longer-term outcome data are needed if services are to reflect the needs of the growing population of older people with frailty. Aim To determine long-term outcomes of older people discharged from hospital following short (<72 hours) and longer hospital admissions compared by frailty status. Design and setting Two populations aged ≥70 years discharged from hospital units: those following short ‘ambulatory’ admissions (<72 hours) and those following longer inpatient stays. Method Data for 2-year mortality and hospital use were compared using frailty measures derived from clinical and hospital data. Results Mortality after 2 years was increased for frail compared with non-frail individuals in both cohorts. Patients in the ambulatory cohort classified as frail had increased mortality (Rockwood hazard ratio 2.3 [95% confidence interval {CI} = 1.5 to 3.4]) and hospital use (Rockwood rate ratio 2.1 [95% CI = 1.7 to 2.6]) compared with those patients classified as non-frail. Conclusion Individuals with frailty who are discharged from hospital experience increased mortality and resource use, even after short ‘ambulatory’ admissions. This is an easily identifiable group that is at increased risk of poor outcomes. Health and social care systems might wish to examine their current care response for frail older people discharged from hospital. There may be value in a ‘secondary prevention’ approach to frailty crises targeting individuals who are discharged from hospital

Billiards in a general domain with random reflections

We study stochastic billiards on general tables: a particle moves according to its constant velocity inside some domain ${\mathcal D} \subset {\mathbb R}^d$ until it hits the boundary and bounces randomly inside according to some reflection law. We assume that the boundary of the domain is locally Lipschitz and almost everywhere continuously differentiable. The angle of the outgoing velocity with the inner normal vector has a specified, absolutely continuous density. We construct the discrete time and the continuous time processes recording the sequence of hitting points on the boundary and the pair location/velocity. We mainly focus on the case of bounded domains. Then, we prove exponential ergodicity of these two Markov processes, we study their invariant distribution and their normal (Gaussian) fluctuations. Of particular interest is the case of the cosine reflection law: the stationary distributions for the two processes are uniform in this case, the discrete time chain is reversible though the continuous time process is quasi-reversible. Also in this case, we give a natural construction of a chord "picked at random" in ${\mathcal D}$, and we study the angle of intersection of the process with a $(d-1)$-dimensional manifold contained in ${\mathcal D}$.Comment: 50 pages, 10 figures; To appear in: Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis; corrected Theorem 2.8 (induced chords in nonconvex subdomains

A kinetic approach to eta' production from a CP-odd phase

The production of (eta,eta')- mesons during the decay of a CP-odd phase is studied within an evolution operator approach. We derive a quantum kinetic equation starting from the Witten-DiVecchia-Veneziano Lagrangian for pseudoscalar mesons containing a U_A(1) symmetry breaking term. The non-linear vacuum mean field for the flavour singlet pseudoscalar meson is treated as a classical, self-interacting background field with fluctuations assumed to be small. The numerical solution provides the time evolution of momentum distribution function of produced eta'- mesons after a quench at the deconfinement phase transition. We show that the time evolution of the momentum distribution of the produced mesons depend strongly on the shape of the effective potential at the end of the quench, exhibiting either parametric or tachyonic resonances. Quantum statistical effects are essential and lead to a pronounced Bose enhancement of the low momentum states.Comment: 10 pages, latex, epsfig, 6 figure

Notes on bordered Floer homology

This is a survey of bordered Heegaard Floer homology, an extension of the Heegaard Floer invariant HF-hat to 3-manifolds with boundary. Emphasis is placed on how bordered Heegaard Floer homology can be used for computations.Comment: 73 pages, 29 figures. Based on lectures at the Contact and Symplectic Topology Summer School in Budapest, July 2012. v2: Fixed many small typo

Relation Between Chiral Susceptibility and Solutions of Gap Equation in Nambu--Jona-Lasinio Model

We study the solutions of the gap equation, the thermodynamic potential and the chiral susceptibility in and beyond the chiral limit at finite chemical potential in the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model. We give an explicit relation between the chiral susceptibility and the thermodynamic potential in the NJL model. We find that the chiral susceptibility is a quantity being able to represent the furcation of the solutions of the gap equation and the concavo-convexity of the thermodynamic potential in NJL model. It indicates that the chiral susceptibility can identify the stable state and the possibility of the chiral phase transition in NJL model.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, misprints are correcte