1,473 research outputs found
Heterogeneity in the Relationship between Disinfection By-Products in Drinking Water and Cancer: A Systematic Review.
The epidemiological evidence demonstrating the effect of disinfection by-products (DBPs) from drinking water on colon and rectal cancers is well documented. However, no systematic assessment has been conducted to assess the potential effect measure modification (EMM) in the relationship between DBPs and cancer. The objective of this paper is to conduct a systematic literature review to determine the extent to which EMM has been assessed in the relationship between DBPs in drinking water in past epidemiological studies. Selected articles (n = 19) were reviewed, and effect estimates and covariates that could have been used in an EMM assessment were gathered. Approximately half of the studies assess EMM (n = 10), but the majority of studies only estimate it relative to sex subgroups (n = 6 for bladder cancer and n = 2 both for rectal and colon cancers). Although EMM is rarely assessed, several variables that could have a potential modification effect are routinely collected in these studies, such as socioeconomic status or age. The role of environmental exposures through drinking water can play an important role and contribute to cancer disparities. We encourage a systematic use of subgroup analysis to understand which populations or territories are more vulnerable to the health impacts of DBPs
Fast Mapping of Terahertz Bursting Thresholds and Characteristics at Synchrotron Light Sources
Dedicated optics with extremely short electron bunches enable synchrotron
light sources to generate intense coherent THz radiation. The high degree of
spatial compression in this so-called low-alpha optics entails a complex
longitudinal dynamics of the electron bunches, which can be probed studying the
fluctuations in the emitted terahertz radiation caused by the micro-bunching
instability ("bursting"). This article presents a "quasi-instantaneous" method
for measuring the bursting characteristics by simultaneously collecting and
evaluating the information from all bunches in a multi-bunch fill, reducing the
measurement time from hours to seconds. This speed-up allows systematic studies
of the bursting characteristics for various accelerator settings within a
single fill of the machine, enabling a comprehensive comparison of the measured
bursting thresholds with theoretical predictions by the bunched-beam theory.
This paper introduces the method and presents first results obtained at the
ANKA synchrotron radiation facility.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Physical Review Accelerators
and Beam
String Equations for the Unitary Matrix Model and the Periodic Flag Manifold
The periodic flag manifold (in the Sato Grassmannian context) description of
the modified Korteweg--de Vries hierarchy is used to analyse the translational
and scaling self--similar solutions of this hierarchy. These solutions are
characterized by the string equations appearing in the double scaling limit of
the symmetric unitary matrix model with boundary terms. The moduli space is a
double covering of the moduli space in the Sato Grassmannian for the
corresponding self--similar solutions of the Korteweg--de Vries hierarchy, i.e.
of stable 2D quantum gravity. The potential modified Korteweg--de Vries
hierarchy, which can be described in terms of a line bundle over the periodic
flag manifold, and its self--similar solutions corresponds to the symmetric
unitary matrix model. Now, the moduli space is in one--to--one correspondence
with a subset of codimension one of the moduli space in the Sato Grassmannian
corresponding to self--similar solutions of the Korteweg--de Vries hierarchy.Comment: 21 pages in LaTeX-AMSTe
Meson Exchange Effect on Color Superconductivity
We investigate the effects of pion and gluon exchanges on the formation of
two-flavor color superconductivity at moderate density, . The
chiral quark model proposed by Manohar and Georgi containing pions as well as
gluons is employed to show that the pion exchange reduces substantially the
value of the superconducting gap gotten with the gluon exchange only. It turns
out that the pion exchanges produce a repulsion between quark-quark pair in a
spin and isospin singlet state.
We suggest that the phase consisiting of pions, gluons and quarks is one of
the candidates of in-medium QCD phase at moderate density.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, minor correction
Analysis of the osseointegrative force of a hyperhydrophilic and nanostructured surface refinement for TPS surfaces in a gap healing model with the Göttingen minipig
Background: A lot of advantages can result in a high wettability as well as a nanostructure at a titanium surface on bone implants. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the osseointegrative potential of a titan plasma-sprayed (TPS) surface refinement by acid-etching with chromosulfuric acid. This results in a hyperhydrophilic surface with a nanostructure and an extreme high wetting rate. Methods: In total, 72 dumbbell shape titan implants were inserted in the spongy bone of the femora of 18 Göttingen minipigs in a conservative gap model. Thirty-six titan implants were coated with a standard TPS surface and 36 with the hyperhydrophilic chromosulfuric acid (CSA) surface. After a healing period of 4, 8, and 12 weeks, the animals were killed. The chronological healing process was histomorphometrically analyzed. Results: The de novo bone formation, represented by the bone area (BA), is increased by approximately 1.5 times after 12 weeks with little additional benefit by use of the CSA surface. The bone-to-implant contact (BIC), which represents osseoconductive forces, shows results with a highly increased osteoid production in the CSA implants beginning at 8 and 12 weeks compared to TPS. This culminates in a 17-fold increase in BIC after a healing period of 12 weeks. After 4 weeks, significantly more osteoid was seen in the gap as de novo formation in the CSA group (p = 0.0062). Osteoid was also found more frequently after 12 weeks at the CSA-treated surface (p = 0.0355). The site of implantation, intertrochanteric or intercondylar, may influence on the de novo bone formation in the gap. Conclusions: There is a benefit by the CSA surface treatment of the TPS layer for osseointegration over an observation time up to 12 weeks. Significant differences were able to be shown in two direct comparisons between the CSA and the TPS surface for osteoid formation in the gap model. Further trials may reveal the benefit of the CSA treatment of the TPS layer involving mechanical tests if possible
Fast mapping of terahertz bursting thresholds and characteristics at synchrotron light sources
Dedicated optics with extremely short electron bunches enable synchrotron light sources to generate intense coherent THz radiation. The high degree of spatial compression in this so-called low-α optics entails a complex longitudinal dynamics of the electron bunches, which can be probed studying the fluctuations in the emitted terahertz radiation caused by the microbunching instability (“bursting”). This article presents a “quasi-instantaneous” method for measuring the bursting characteristics by simultaneously collecting and evaluating the information from all bunches in a multibunch fill, reducing the measurement time from hours to seconds. This speed-up allows systematic studies of the bursting characteristics for various accelerator settings within a single fill of the machine, enabling a comprehensive comparison of the measured bursting thresholds with theoretical predictions by the bunched-beam theory. This paper introduces the method and presents first results obtained at the ANKA synchrotron radiation facility
Two lectures on color superconductivity
The first lecture provides an introduction to the physics of color
superconductivity in cold dense quark matter. The main color superconducting
phases are briefly described and their properties are listed. The second
lecture covers recent developments in studies of color superconducting phases
in neutral and beta-equilibrated matter. The properties of gapless color
superconducting phases are discussed.Comment: 56 pages, 9 figures. Minor corrections and references added. Lectures
delivered at the IARD 2004 conference, Saas Fee, Switzerland, June 12 - 19,
2004, and at the Helmholtz International Summer School and Workshop on Hot
points in Astrophysics and Cosmology, JINR, Dubna, Russia, August 2 - 13,
200
Active wetting of epithelial tissues
Development, regeneration and cancer involve drastic transitions in tissue
morphology. In analogy with the behavior of inert fluids, some of these
transitions have been interpreted as wetting transitions. The validity and
scope of this analogy are unclear, however, because the active cellular forces
that drive tissue wetting have been neither measured nor theoretically
accounted for. Here we show that the transition between 2D epithelial
monolayers and 3D spheroidal aggregates can be understood as an active wetting
transition whose physics differs fundamentally from that of passive wetting
phenomena. By combining an active polar fluid model with measurements of
physical forces as a function of tissue size, contractility, cell-cell and
cell-substrate adhesion, and substrate stiffness, we show that the wetting
transition results from the competition between traction forces and contractile
intercellular stresses. This competition defines a new intrinsic lengthscale
that gives rise to a critical size for the wetting transition in tissues, a
striking feature that has no counterpart in classical wetting. Finally, we show
that active shape fluctuations are dynamically amplified during tissue
dewetting. Overall, we conclude that tissue spreading constitutes a prominent
example of active wetting --- a novel physical scenario that may explain
morphological transitions during tissue morphogenesis and tumor progression
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