Failure of the Standard Coupled-Channels Method in Describing the Inelastic Reaction Data: On the Use of a New Shape for the Coupling Potential

We present the failure of the standard coupled-channels method in explaining the inelastic scattering together with other observables such as elastic scattering, excitation function and fusion data. We use both microscopic double-folding and phenomenological deep potentials with shallow imaginary components. We argue that the solution of the problems for the inelastic scattering data is not related to the central nuclear potential, but to the coupling potential between excited states. We present that these problems can be addressed in a systematic way by using a different shape for the coupling potential instead of the usual one based on Taylor expansion.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, Latex:RevTex4 published in J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phy

Oral health and related factors in a group of children with cystic fibrosis in Istanbul, Turkey

Background: Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients can be considered as high caries risk patients because they frequently consume sugar.rich food between meals and they have a high intake of sugar containing syrups, aerosols, and salivary flow reducing medication. Variable caries prevalences were reported in CF patients in previous studies. There are no studies related to CF and salivary thromboplastic activity, which can be presented as a marker of wound healing and bleeding tendency of oral cavity.Objective: The aim of this study was to compare oral health status and salivary pH, flow rate, and thromboplastic activity in children with CF and healthy controls.Materials and Methods: Asample of 35 children with CF (23 girls and 12 boys), and 12 healthy control subjects (6 girls and 6 boys) were selected. Caries experience, oral hygiene, and dental erosion were assessed. Salivary flow rate, pH, thromboplastic activity, and total protein content were determined. Differences between the groups were evaluated using Chi.square test with a significance level set at 0.05.Results: The differences between children with CF and healthy controls in tooth brushing frequency, use of fluoride tablets, caries experience, dental erosion index, oral hygiene index, salivary flow rate and total protein levels were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Salivary thromboplastic activity of the CF group was significantly lower than the healthy controls (P < 0.01).Conclusion: Large population studies may be necessary to establish the role of salivary thromboplastic activity in children with CF considering our findings related to the decreased salivary thromboplastic activity, which  may indicate delayed oral wound healing process.Key words: Caries, children, cystic fibrosis, saliva, salivary thromboplastic activit

Effects of Passive and active Rest on Physiological Responses and Time Motion Characteristics in Different Small Sided Soccer Games

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of resting regimes on physiological responses and time motion characteristics between bouts during small sided games (SSGs) in young soccer players. Sixteen players (average age 16.87 ± 0.34 years; body height 176.69 ± 3.21 cm; body mass 62.40 ± 2.59 kg; training experience 3.75 ± 0.44 years) performed four bouts 2-a-side, 3-a-side and 4-a-side games with three minutes active (SSGar: Running at 70% of HRmax) and passive (SSGpr) rest between bouts at two-day intervals. The heart rate (HR) along with total distance covered in different speed zones - walking (W, 0-6.9 km·h-1), low-intensity running (LIR, 7.0-12.9 km·h-1), moderate-intensity running (MIR, 13.0-17.9 km·h-1) and high-intensity running (HIR, >18km·h-1), were monitored during all SSGs, whereas the rating of perceived exertion (RPE, CR-20) and venous blood lactate (La-) were determined at the end of the last bout of each SSG. The results demonstrated that all SSGpr elicited significantly higher physiological responses compared to SSGar in terms of the RPE and La- (p < 0.05). In addition, 2-a-side SSGpr induced significantly lower %HRmax responses and total distance covered than 2-a-side SSGar (p < 0.05). Moreover, the distance covered at HIR was significantly higher in 4-a-side SSGar than 4-side SSGpr. The results of this study indicate that both SSGs with passive and active rest can be used for soccer specific aerobic endurance training. Furthermore, all SSGs with active recovery should be performed in order to increase players and teams' performance capacity for subsequent bouts. © 2017 Editorial Committee of Journal of Human Kinetics 2017

Numerical Study of Rosenau-KdV Equation Using Finite Element Method Based on Collocation Approach

In the present paper, a numerical method is proposed for the numerical solution of Rosenau-KdV equation with appropriate initial and boundary conditions by using collocation method with septic B-spline functions on the uniform mesh points. The method is shown to be unconditionally stable using von-Neumann technique. To check accuracy of the error norms L2 and L∞ are computed. Interaction of two and three solitary waves are used to discuss the effect of the behavior of the solitary waves during the interaction. Furthermore, evolution of solitons is illustrated by undular bore initial condition. These results show that the technique introduced here is suitable to investigate behaviors of shallow water waves

Approximate solution of the Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau equation for a vector Yukawa potential with arbitrary total angular momenta

The usual approximation scheme is used to study the solution of the Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau (DKP) equation for a vector Yukawa potential in the framework of the parametric Nikiforov-Uvarov (NU) method. The approximate energy eigenvalue equation and the corresponding wave function spinor components are calculated for arbitrary total angular momentum in closed form. Further, the approximate energy equation and wave function spinor components are also given for case. A set of parameter values is used to obtain the numerical values for the energy states with various values of quantum levelsComment: 17 pages; Communications in Theoretical Physics (2012). arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1205.0938, and with arXiv:quant-ph/0410159 by other author

Approximate k-state solutions to the Dirac-Yukawa problem based on the spin and pseudospin symmetry

Using an approximation scheme to deal with the centrifugal (pseudo-centrifugal) term, we solve the Dirac equation with the screened Coulomb (Yukawa) potential for any arbitrary spin-orbit quantum number {\kappa}. Based on the spin and pseudospin symmetry, analytic bound state energy spectrum formulas and their corresponding upper- and lower-spinor components of two Dirac particles are obtained using a shortcut of the Nikiforov-Uvarov method. We find a wide range of permissible values for the spin symmetry constant C_{s} from the valence energy spectrum of particle and also for pseudospin symmetry constant C_{ps} from the hole energy spectrum of antiparticle. Further, we show that the present potential interaction becomes less (more) attractive for a long (short) range screening parameter {\alpha}. To remove the degeneracies in energy levels we consider the spin and pseudospin solution of Dirac equation for Yukawa potential plus a centrifugal-like term. A few special cases such as the exact spin (pseudospin) symmetry Dirac-Yukawa, the Yukawa plus centrifugal-like potentials, the limit when {\alpha} becomes zero (Coulomb potential field) and the non-relativistic limit of our solution are studied. The nonrelativistic solutions are compared with those obtained by other methods.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure

smyRNA: A Novel Ab Initio ncRNA Gene Finder

Background: Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have important functional roles in the cell: for example, they regulate gene expression by means of establishing stable joint structures with target mRNAs via complementary sequence motifs. Sequence motifs are also important determinants of the structure of ncRNAs. Although ncRNAs are abundant, discovering novel ncRNAs on genome sequences has proven to be a hard task; in particular past attempts for ab initio ncRNA search mostly failed with the exception of tools that can identify micro RNAs. Methodology/Principal Findings: We present a very general ab initio ncRNA gene finder that exploits differential distributions of sequence motifs between ncRNAs and background genome sequences. Conclusions/Significance: Our method, once trained on a set of ncRNAs from a given species, can be applied to a genome sequences of other organisms to find not only ncRNAs homologous to those in the training set but also others that potentially belong to novel (and perhaps unknown) ncRNA families. Availability

Fractured metallic tracheostomy tube in a child: a case report and review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Tracheostomy is a common airway procedure for life support. The fracture of the tracheostomy tube is a rare complication. We report a case of a 14-year-old boy whose fractured stainless steel tracheostomy tube dislodged into the tracheobronchial tree. We include a literature review and proposed recommendations for tracheostomy care.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 14-year-old Thai boy who had a stainless steel tracheostomy tube presented with a complaint of intermittent cough for 2 months. During tracheostomy tube cleaning, his parents found that the inner tube was missing. A chest X-ray revealed a metallic density foreign body in his right main bronchus. He underwent bronchoscopic removal of the inner tracheostomy tube and was discharged without further complications.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A fractured tracheostomy tube is a rare complication. Appropriate cleaning and scheduled replacement of the tracheostomy tube may prevent this complication.</p

High-resolution African HLA resource uncovers HLA-DRB1 expression effects underlying vaccine response

How human genetic variation contributes to vaccine effectiveness in infants is unclear, and data are limited on these relationships in populations with African ancestries. We undertook genetic analyses of vaccine antibody responses in infants from Uganda (n = 1391), Burkina Faso (n = 353) and South Africa (n = 755), identifying associations between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and antibody response for five of eight tested antigens spanning pertussis, diphtheria and hepatitis B vaccines. In addition, through HLA typing 1,702 individuals from 11 populations of African ancestry derived predominantly from the 1000 Genomes Project, we constructed an imputation resource, fine-mapping class II HLA-DR and DQ associations explaining up to 10% of antibody response variance in our infant cohorts. We observed differences in the genetic architecture of pertussis antibody response between the cohorts with African ancestries and an independent cohort with European ancestry, but found no in silico evidence of differences in HLA peptide binding affinity or breadth. Using immune cell expression quantitative trait loci datasets derived from African-ancestry samples from the 1000 Genomes Project, we found evidence of differential HLA-DRB1 expression correlating with inferred protection from pertussis following vaccination. This work suggests that HLA-DRB1 expression may play a role in vaccine response and should be considered alongside peptide selection to improve vaccine design

Acute exacerbations of COPD are associated with significant activation of matrix metalloproteinase 9 irrespectively of airway obstruction, emphysema and infection

BACKGROUND: Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AE-COPD) are associated with accelerated aggravation of clinical symptoms and deterioration of pulmonary function. The mechanisms by which exacerbations may contribute to airway remodeling and declined lung function are poorly understood. In this study, we investigated if AE-COPD are associated with differential expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). METHODS: COPD patients undergoing diagnostic bronchoscopy, with either stable disease (n = 53) or AE-COPD (n = 44), matched for their demographics and lung function parameters were included in this study. Protein levels of MMP-2,-9,-12 and of TIMP-1 and -2 in BAL were measured by ELISA. Enzymatic activity of MMP-2 and -9 was assessed by gelatin zymography. RESULTS: We observed that MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 were significantly increased in BAL during AE-COPD. Furthermore, there was a significant negative correlation of MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 with FEV1% predicted and a significant positive correlation of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 with RV% predicted in AE-COPD. None of MMPs and TIMPs correlated with DLCO% predicted, indicating that they are associated with airway remodeling leading to obstruction rather than emphysema. In AE-COPD the gelatinolytic activity of MMP-2 was increased and furthermore, MMP-9 activation was significantly up-regulated irrespective of lung function, bacterial or viral infections and smoking. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that during AE-COPD increased expression of TIMP-1, TIMP-2, and MMP-9 and activation of MMP-9 may be persistent aggravating factors associated with airway remodeling and obstruction, suggesting a pathway connecting frequent exacerbations to lung function decline