Numerical studies of the Lagrangian approach for reconstruction of the conductivity in a waveguide

We consider an inverse problem of reconstructing the conductivity function in a hyperbolic equation using single space-time domain noisy observations of the solution on the backscattering boundary of the computational domain. We formulate our inverse problem as an optimization problem and use Lagrangian approach to minimize the corresponding Tikhonov functional. We present a theorem of a local strong convexity of our functional and derive error estimates between computed and regularized as well as exact solutions of this functional, correspondingly. In numerical simulations we apply domain decomposition finite element-finite difference method for minimization of the Lagrangian. Our computational study shows efficiency of the proposed method in the reconstruction of the conductivity function in three dimensions

CD5 expression promotes IL-10 production through activation of the MAPK/Erk pathway and upregulation of TRPC1 channels in B lymphocytes.

CD5 is constitutively expressed on T cells and a subset of mature normal and leukemic B cells in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Important functional properties are associated with CD5 expression in B cells, including signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 activation, IL-10 production and the promotion of B-lymphocyte survival and transformation. However, the pathway(s) by which CD5 influences the biology of B cells and its dependence on B-cell receptor (BCR) co-signaling remain unknown. In this study, we show that CD5 expression activates a number of important signaling pathways, including Erk1/2, leading to IL-10 production through a novel pathway independent of BCR engagement. This pathway is dependent on extracellular calcium (Ca2+) entry facilitated by upregulation of the transient receptor potential channel 1 (TRPC1) protein. We also show that Erk1/2 activation in a subgroup of CLL patients is associated with TRPC1 overexpression. In this subgroup of CLL patients, small inhibitory RNA (siRNA) for CD5 reduces TRPC1 expression. Furthermore, siRNAs for CD5 or for TRPC1 inhibit IL-10 production. These findings provide new insights into the role of CD5 in B-cell biology in health and disease and could pave the way for new treatment strategies for patients with B-CLL

An observational study of patient characteristics associated with the mode of admission to acute stroke services in North East, England

Objective Effective provision of urgent stroke care relies upon admission to hospital by emergency ambulance and may involve pre-hospital redirection. The proportion and characteristics of patients who do not arrive by emergency ambulance and their impact on service efficiency is unclear. To assist in the planning of regional stroke services we examined the volume, characteristics and prognosis of patients according to the mode of presentation to local services. Study design and setting A prospective regional database of consecutive acute stroke admissions was conducted in North East, England between 01/09/10-30/09/11. Case ascertainment and transport mode were checked against hospital coding and ambulance dispatch databases. Results Twelve acute stroke units contributed data for a mean of 10.7 months. 2792/3131 (89%) patients received a diagnosis of stroke within 24 hours of admission: 2002 arrivals by emergency ambulance; 538 by private transport or non-emergency ambulance; 252 unknown mode. Emergency ambulance patients were older (76 vs 69 years), more likely to be from institutional care (10% vs 1%) and experiencing total anterior circulation symptoms (27% vs 6%). Thrombolysis treatment was commoner following emergency admission (11% vs 4%). However patients attending without emergency ambulance had lower inpatient mortality (2% vs 18%), a lower rate of institutionalisation (1% vs 6%) and less need for daily carers (7% vs 16%). 149/155 (96%) of highly dependent patients were admitted by emergency ambulance, but none received thrombolysis. Conclusion Presentations of new stroke without emergency ambulance involvement were not unusual but were associated with a better outcome due to younger age, milder neurological impairment and lower levels of pre-stroke dependency. Most patients with a high level of pre-stroke dependency arrived by emergency ambulance but did not receive thrombolysis. It is important to be aware of easily identifiable demographic groups that differ in their potential to gain from different service configurations

\u27Unfreezing-Changing-Refreezing\u27 of Actors\u27 Commitment: The Transition from Escalation to De-Escalation of Commitment to Information Technology Projects

Escalation is a common and costly problem among IT projects. Although the potential of de-escalation of commitment to failing courses of action has been much heralded, many such efforts may result in failure due to constituencies biasing facts in the direction of previously accepted beliefs, and therefore, prevent an organization from de-escalating. Here, we adopt Lewin’s change framework to examine the commitment transformation during the transition from escalation to de-escalation of an eprocurement project in a local government organization in UK. Our findings suggest that the entire process of ‘unfreezing-changing-refreezing’ was enacted through the deployment of behaviour disconfirmation, psychological safety creation, and development, alignment and integration of new attitudes and behaviours. The research and practical implications of these findings are explored

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Co-occurrence of diabetes and hopelessness predicts adverse prognosis following percutaneous coronary intervention

We examined the impact of co-occurring diabetes and hopelessness on 3-year prognosis in percutaneous coronary intervention patients. Consecutive patients (n = 534) treated with the paclitaxel-eluting stent completed a set of questionnaires at baseline and were followed up for 3-year adverse clinical events. The incidence of 3-year death/non-fatal myocardial infarction was 3.5% in patients with no risk factors (neither hopelessness nor diabetes), 8.2% in patients with diabetes, 11.2% in patients with high hopelessness, and 15.9% in patients with both factors (p = 0.001). Patients with hopelessness (HR: 3.28; 95% CI: 1.49-7.23) and co-occurring diabetes and hopelessness (HR: 4.89; 95% CI: 1.86-12.85) were at increased risk of 3-year adverse clinical events compared to patients with no risk factors, whereas patients with diabetes were at a clinically relevant but not statistically significant risk (HR: 2.40; 95% CI: 0.82-7.01). These results remained, adjusting for baseline characteristics an

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

A Search for Dark Higgs Bosons

Recent astrophysical and terrestrial experiments have motivated the proposal of a dark sector with GeV-scale gauge boson force carriers and new Higgs bosons. We present a search for a dark Higgs boson using 516 fb-1 of data collected with the BABAR detector. We do not observe a significant signal and we set 90% confidence level upper limits on the product of the Standard Model-dark sector mixing angle and the dark sector coupling constant.Comment: 7 pages, 5 postscript figures, published version with improved plots for b/w printin