335 research outputs found
Exact One Loop Running Couplings in the Standard Model
Taking the dominant couplings in the standard model to be the quartic scalar
coupling, the Yukawa coupling of the top quark, and the SU(3) gauge coupling,
we consider their associated running couplings to one loop order. Despite the
non-linear nature of the differential equations governing these functions, we
show that they can be solved exactly. The nature of these solutions is
discussed and their singularity structure is examined. It is shown that for a
sufficiently small Higgs mass, the quartic scalar coupling decreases with
increasing energy scale and becomes negative, indicative of vacuum instability.
This behavior changes for a Higgs mass greater than 168 GeV, beyond which this
couplant increases with increasing energy scales and becomes singular prior to
the ultraviolet (UV) pole of the Yukawa coupling. Upper and lower bounds on the
Higgs mass corresponding to new physics at the TeV scale are obtained and
compare favourably with the numerical results of the one-loop and two-loop
analyses with inclusion of electroweak couplings.Comment: 5 pages, LaTeX, additional references and further discussion in this
version. Accepted for publication in Canadian Journal of Physic
Accounting for risk in valuing forest carbon offsets
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Forests can sequester carbon dioxide, thereby reducing atmospheric concentrations and slowing global warming. In the U.S., forest carbon stocks have increased as a result of regrowth following land abandonment and in-growth due to fire suppression, and they currently sequester approximately 10% of annual US emissions. This ecosystem service is recognized in greenhouse gas protocols and cap-and-trade mechanisms, yet forest carbon is valued equally regardless of forest type, an approach that fails to account for risk of carbon loss from disturbance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we show that incorporating wildfire risk reduces the value of forest carbon depending on the location and condition of the forest. There is a general trend of decreasing risk-scaled forest carbon value moving from the northern toward the southern continental U.S.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Because disturbance is a major ecological factor influencing long-term carbon storage and is often sensitive to human management, carbon trading mechanisms should account for the reduction in value associated with disturbance risk.</p
Pain in veterans of the Gulf War of 1991: a systematic review
BACKGROUND: Veterans of the Persian Gulf War of 1991 have reported a range of adverse health symptoms. This systematic review aims to identify all studies that have compared the prevalence of symptoms of pain in veterans of the Gulf War to that in a non-Gulf military comparison group, and to determine whether Gulf War veterans are at increased risk of reporting pain. METHODS: Studies published between January 1990 and May 2004 were identified by searching a large number of electronic databases. Reference lists and websites were also searched and key researchers were contacted. Studies were included if they reported the prevalence of any symptom or condition that included the word "pain" in Gulf War veterans and in a comparison group of non-Gulf veterans. 2401 abstracts were independently reviewed by two authors. RESULTS: Twenty studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Five main sites of pain were identified (muscle, joint, chest/heart, back and abdominal pain) and separate meta-analyses were performed to summarise the results related to each site. A greater proportion of Gulf veterans reported symptoms at each site of pain when compared to a non-Gulf military group. Gulf deployment was most strongly associated with abdominal pain, with Gulf veterans being more than three times more likely to report such pain than a comparison group (OR 3.23; 95%CI 2.31–4.51). Statistical heterogeneity between study estimates was significant, probably due to variation in measured periods of prevalence and symptom measurement methods. CONCLUSION: A higher proportion of veterans of the Persian Gulf War of 1991 reported symptoms of pain than military comparison groups. This is consistent with previously demonstrated increased reporting of more general symptoms (fatigue, multiple chemical sensitivity, post traumatic stress disorder) in these veterans compared with non-Gulf military groups. However, the primary studies were heterogeneous and varied greatly in quality
The Use of Sexually Explicit Internet Material and Its Antecedents: A Longitudinal Comparison of Adolescents and Adults
An implicit assumption in research on adolescents’ use of sexually explicit internet material (SEIM) is that they may feel more attracted to such material than adults, given the “forbidden” character of SEIM for minors. However, systematic comparisons between adolescents’ and adults’ SEIM use and of its antecedents are missing. We conducted a two-wave panel survey among a nationally representative sample of 1,445 Dutch adolescents and a nationally representative sample of 833 Dutch adults. Adolescents’ and adults’ SEIM use was similar. When significant differences in the SEIM use occurred, they indicated that adults used SEIM more often than adolescents. Male adults were the most frequent users of SEIM. No difference in the antecedent structure of SEIM use emerged between adolescents and adults. In both groups, males, sensation seekers, as well as people with a not exclusively heterosexual orientation used SEIM more often. Among adolescents and adults, lower life satisfaction increased SEIM use. Our findings suggest that the frequency of SEIM use and its antecedents are largely the same among adolescents and adults
Measurement of the cross-section of high transverse momentum vector bosons reconstructed as single jets and studies of jet substructure in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector
This paper presents a measurement of the cross-section for high transverse momentum W and Z bosons produced in pp collisions and decaying to all-hadronic final states. The data used in the analysis were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV;{\rm Te}{\rm V}4.6\;{\rm f}{{{\rm b}}^{-1}}{{p}_{{\rm T}}}\gt 320\;{\rm Ge}{\rm V}|\eta |\lt 1.9{{\sigma }_{W+Z}}=8.5\pm 1.7$ pb and is compared to next-to-leading-order calculations. The selected events are further used to study jet grooming techniques
Tumour cells expressing single VEGF isoforms display distinct growth, survival and migration characteristics
Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF) is produced by most cancer cells as multiple isoforms, which display distinct biological activities. VEGF plays an undisputed role in tumour growth, vascularisation and metastasis; nevertheless the functions of individual isoforms in these processes remain poorly understood. We investigated the effects of three main murine isoforms (VEGF188, 164 and 120) on tumour cell behaviour, using a panel of fibrosarcoma cells we developed that express them individually under endogenous promoter control. Fibrosarcomas expressing only VEGF188 (fs188) or wild type controls (fswt) were typically mesenchymal, formed ruffles and displayed strong matrix-binding activity. VEGF164- and VEGF120-producing cells (fs164 and fs120 respectively) were less typically mesenchymal, lacked ruffles but formed abundant cell-cell contacts. On 3D collagen, fs188 cells remained mesenchymal while fs164 and fs120 cells adopted rounded/amoeboid and a mix of rounded and elongated morphologies respectively. Consistent with their mesenchymal characteristics, fs188 cells migrated significantly faster than fs164 or fs120 cells on 2D surfaces while contractility inhibitors accelerated fs164 and fs120 cell migration. VEGF164/VEGF120 expression correlated with faster proliferation rates and lower levels of spontaneous apoptosis than VEGF188 expression. Nevertheless, VEGF188 was associated with constitutively active/phosphorylated AKT, ERK1/2 and Stat3 proteins. Differences in proliferation rates and apoptosis could be explained by defective signalling downstream of pAKT to FOXO and GSK3 in fs188 and fswt cells, which also correlated with p27/p21 cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor over-expression. All cells expressed tyrosine kinase VEGF receptors, but these were not active/activatable suggesting that inherent differences between the cell lines are governed by endogenous VEGF isoform expression through complex interactions that are independent of tyrosine kinase receptor activation. VEGF isoforms are emerging as potential biomarkers for anti-VEGF therapies. Our results reveal novel roles of individual isoforms associated with cancer growth and metastasis and highlight the importance of understanding their diverse actions
The Role of Galectin-1 and Galectin-3 in the Mucosal Immune Response to Citrobacter rodentium Infection
Despite their abundance at gastrointestinal sites, little is known about the role of galectins in gut immune responses. We have therefore investigated the Citrobacter rodentium model of colonic infection and inflammation in Galectin-1 or Galectin-3 null mice. Gal-3 null mice showed a slight delay in colonisation after inoculation with C. rodentium and a slight delay in resolution of infection, associated with delayed T cell, macrophage and dendritic cell infiltration into the gut mucosa. However, Gal-1 null mice also demonstrated reduced T cell and macrophage responses to infection. Despite the reduced T cell and macrophage response in Gal-1 null mice, there was no effect on C. rodentium infection kinetics and pathology. Overall, Gal-1 and Gal-3 play only a minor role in immunity to a gut bacterial pathogen
Identification of genes required for soil survival in Burkholderia thailandensis by transposon-directed insertion site sequencing.
Transposon-directed insertion site sequencing was used to identify genes required by Burkholderia thailandensis to survive in plant/soil microcosms. A total of 1,153 genetic loci fulfilled the criteria as being likely to encode survival characteristics. Of these, 203 (17.6 %) were associated with uptake and transport systems; 463 loci (40.1 %) coded for enzymatic properties, 99 of these (21.4 %) had reduction/oxidation functions; 117 (10.1 %) were gene regulation or sensory loci; 61 (5.3 %) encoded structural proteins found in the cell envelope or with enzymatic activities related to it, distinct from these, 46 (4.0 %) were involved in chemotaxis and flagellum, or pilus synthesis; 39 (3.4 %) were transposase enzymes or were bacteriophage-derived; and 30 (2.6 %) were involved in the production of antibiotics or siderophores. Two hundred and twenty genes (19.1 %) encoded hypothetical proteins or those of unknown function. Given the importance of motility and pilus formation in microcosm persistence the nature of the colonization of the rhizosphere was examined by confocal microscopy. Wild type B. thailandensis expressing red fluorescent protein was inoculated into microcosms. Even though the roots had been washed, the bacteria were still present but they were motile with no attachment having taken place, perhaps being retained in a biofilm
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