Three Dimensional Imaging of the Nucleon and Semi-Inclusive High Energy Reactions

We present a short overview on the studies of transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions of the nucleon. The aim of such studies is to provide a three dimensional imagining of the nucleon and a comprehensive description of semi-inclusive high energy reactions. By comparing with the theoretical framework that we have for the inclusive deep inelastic lepton-nucleon scattering and the one-dimensional imaging of the nucleon, we summarize what we need to do in order to construct such a comprehensive theoretical framework for semi-inclusive processes in terms of three dimensional gauge invariant parton distributions. After that, we present an overview of what we have already achieved with emphasize on the theoretical framework for semi-inclusive reactions in leading order perturbative QCD but with leading and higher twist contributions. We summarize in particular the results for the differential cross section and the azimuthal spin asymmetries in terms of the gauge invariant transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions. We also briefly summarize the available experimental results on semi-inclusive reactions and parameterizations of transverse momentum dependent parton distributions extracted from them and make an outlook for the future studies.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure

Laboratory Diagnosis of Respiratory Tract Infections in Children – the State of the Art

In the pediatric population, respiratory infections are the most common cause of physician visits. Although many respiratory illnesses are self-limiting viral infections that resolve with time and supportive care, it can be critical to identify the causative pathogen at an early stage of the disease in order to implement effective antimicrobial therapy and infection control. Over the last few years, diagnostics for respiratory infections have evolved substantially, with the development of novel assays and the availability of updated tests for newer strains of pathogens. Newer laboratory methods are rapid, highly sensitive and specific, and are gradually replacing the conventional gold standards, although the clinical utility of these assays is still under evaluation. This article reviews the current laboratory methods available for testing for respiratory pathogens and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each approach

Hierarchical triple mergers: testing Hawking's area theorem with the inspiral signals

Hawking's area theorem is one of the fundamental laws of black holes (BHs), which has been tested at a confidence level of $\sim 95\%$ with gravitational wave (GW) observations by analyzing the inspiral and ringdown portions of GW signals independently. In this work, we propose to carry out the test in a new way with the hierarchical triple merger (i.e., two successive BH mergers occurred sequentially within the observation window of GW detectors), for which the properties of the progenitor BHs and the remnant BH of the first coalescence can be reliably inferred from the inspiral portions of the two mergers. As revealed in our simulation, a test of the BH area law can be achieved at the significance level of $\gtrsim 3\sigma$ for the hierarchical triple merger events detected in LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA's O4/O5 runs. If the hierarchical triple mergers contribute a $\gtrsim 0.1\%$ fraction to the detected BBHs, a precision test of the BH area law with such systems is achievable in the near future. Our method also provides an additional criterion to establish the hierarchical triple merger origin of some candidate events.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl