A fundamental test of the Higgs Yukawa coupling at RHIC in A+A collisions

Searches for the intermediate boson, $W^{\pm}$, the heavy quantum of the Weak Interaction, via its semi-leptonic decay, $W\to e +\nu$, in the 1970's instead discovered unexpectedly large hadron production at high $p_T$, notably $\pi^0$, which provided a huge background of $e^{\pm}$ from internal and external conversions. Methods developed at the CERN ISR which led to the discovery of direct-single-$e^{\pm}$ in 1974, later determined to be from the semi-leptonic decay of charm which had not yet been discovered, were used by PHENIX at RHIC to make precision measurements of heavy quark production in p-p and Au+Au collisions, leading to the puzzle of apparent equal suppression of light and heavy quarks in the QGP. If the Higgs mechanism gives mass to gauge bosons but not to fermions, then a proposal that all 6 quarks are nearly massless in a QGP, which would resolve the puzzle, can not be excluded. This proposal can be tested with future measurements of heavy quark correlations in A+A collisionsComment: 12 pages, 16 figures, 26th Winter Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics, Ocho Rios, Jamaica WI, January 2-9, 2010. Corrected citation of 1974 direct single lepton discover

Canonical Gravity, Diffeomorphisms and Objective Histories

This paper discusses the implementation of diffeomorphism invariance in purely Hamiltonian formulations of General Relativity. We observe that, if a constrained Hamiltonian formulation derives from a manifestly covariant Lagrangian, the diffeomorphism invariance of the Lagrangian results in the following properties of the constrained Hamiltonian theory: the diffeomorphisms are generated by constraints on the phase space so that a) The algebra of the generators reflects the algebra of the diffeomorphism group. b) The Poisson brackets of the basic fields with the generators reflects the space-time transformation properties of these basic fields. This suggests that in a purely Hamiltonian approach the requirement of diffeomorphism invariance should be interpreted to include b) and not just a) as one might naively suppose. Giving up b) amounts to giving up objective histories, even at the classical level. This observation has implications for Loop Quantum Gravity which are spelled out in a companion paper. We also describe an analogy between canonical gravity and Relativistic particle dynamics to illustrate our main point.Comment: Latex 16 Pages, no figures, revised in the light of referees' comments, accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Corridor Gothic

This article investigates the role of the corridor in Gothic fiction and horror film from the late eighteenth century to the present day. It seeks to establish this transitional space as a crucial locus, by tracing the rise of the corridor as a distinct mode of architectural distribution in domestic and public buildings since the eighteenth century. The article tracks pivotal appearances of the corridor in fiction and film, and in the final phase argues that it has become associated with a specific emotional tenor, less to do with amplified fear and horror and more with emotions of Angst or dread

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Nurses' perceptions of aids and obstacles to the provision of optimal end of life care in ICU

Contains fulltext : 172380.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Changes in vertical jump performance and body composition before and after COVID-19 lockdown

This study aimed to determine the effects of a 16-week COVID-19 lockdown on body composition and vertical jump performance. Thirteen martial artists participated in this study. Participants were tested at: 1) pre-lockdown (pre), 2) post-lockdown (post), 3) two-weeks-post-lockdown (post+2), and 4) four-weeks-post-lockdown (post+4). Repeated-measures-ANOVAs were conducted with post-hoc analyses. Differences were observed in vertical jump height (VJH) (10.33%), peak velocity (PV) (3.10%), reactive-strength-index-modified (RSImod) (13.8%), and peak-propulsive-power (PPP) (6.00%) from pre-to-post. There as an increase from post-to-post+2 in VJ (13.06%), PV (4.12%), RSImod (14.0%), and PPP (4.66%). There was an increase from post to post+2 in VJH (10.8%), PV (3.1%), RSImod (14.0%), and PPP (3.0%). Fat mass (FM) and BF% increased from pre to post (13% and 11%, respectively) and decreased from post to post+4 (8% and 11%, respectively); fat-free mass (FFM) decreased from pre-to-post (11%) and decreased from post-to-post+4 (8%). There were moderate associations (rmc = 0.42-0.47) between FFM and VJH, FMM and PPP, FFM and PV, BF% and PV, and FM and PV. While the lockdown resulted in a significant decrease in vertical jump performance and increases in BF and FM, participant’s performance returned to pre-lockdown levels after only 2-4 weeks of post-lockdown training by decreasing BF, FM, and increasing FFM