4,107 research outputs found
Employment status and work-related problems of gastrointestinal cancer patients at diagnosis: a cross-sectional study
Objective To assess the employment status of patients with gastrointestinal cancer at diagnosis and to examine work-related problems of employed patients. Design New, consecutive patients were included at the Gastrointestinal Oncology Center Amsterdam, a one-stop, rapid access diagnostic assessment centre. Patients were interviewed on their employment status by a nurse. If (self-) employed, patients were asked to self-report on work-related problems, perceived distress (0-10), cancer-related problems, fatigue (MFI-20, range 4-20) and work ability (three WAI questions, range 0-10). Results Of all 333 included new consecutive patients (age range 32-89 years), 95 patients (28%) were (self-) employed at time of diagnosis, 179 (54%) were pensioners, and 59 were not working (18%). For the assessment of work-related problems, 45 (47%) of these 95 employed patients with cancer participated. Their mean age was 56 years, and patients had oesophageal/stomach (49%), colorectal (18%) or hepatic/pancreatic/biliary cancer (33%). Half of the employed patients (49%) were still at work, while 51% were on sick leave. The main reasons for sick leave were stress (35%), (scheduled) operation (26%), fatigue (17%) and pain (13%). Most patients on sick leave (70%) had no contact with their own occupational physician, although the majority (67%) would like to continue to work. Work-related problems were experienced by 73% of working patients. The mean work ability was 5.4, the mean general fatigue score was 11.5, and the mean distress score was 4.7. Employed patients on sick leave reported a lower work ability, more fatigue and higher distress but no more cancer-related problems compared with those still working. Conclusion A quarter of all patients with gastrointestinal cancer seen at an oncological centre are employed at time of diagnosis, and of these employed patients, 73% experience work-related problems. During diagnosis and treatment, information and support on work-related issues should be offered to patients with cancer as an essential part of high-quality oncological car
Particle Dark Matter Candidates
I give a short overview on some of the favorite particle Cold Dark Matter
candidates today, focusing on those having detectable interactions: the axion,
the KK-photon in Universal Extra Dimensions, the heavy photon in Little Higgs
and the neutralino in Supersymmetry. The neutralino is still the most popular,
and today is available in different flavours: SUGRA, nuSUGRA, sub-GUT, Mirage
mediation, NMSSM, effective MSSM, scenarios with CP violation. Some of these
scenarios are already at the level of present sensitivities for direct DM
searches.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 3 references added. Contribution to the
proceedings of the TAUP 07 conference, Sep. 11-15, Sendai, Japa
Construction and Performance of Large-Area Triple-GEM Prototypes for Future Upgrades of the CMS Forward Muon System
At present, part of the forward RPC muon system of the CMS detector at the
CERN LHC remains uninstrumented in the high-\eta region. An international
collaboration is investigating the possibility of covering the 1.6 < |\eta| <
2.4 region of the muon endcaps with large-area triple-GEM detectors. Given
their good spatial resolution, high rate capability, and radiation hardness,
these micro-pattern gas detectors are an appealing option for simultaneously
enhancing muon tracking and triggering capabilities in a future upgrade of the
CMS detector. A general overview of this feasibility study will be presented.
The design and construction of small (10\times10 cm2) and full-size trapezoidal
(1\times0.5 m2) triple-GEM prototypes will be described. During detector
assembly, different techniques for stretching the GEM foils were tested.
Results from measurements with x-rays and from test beam campaigns at the CERN
SPS will be shown for the small and large prototypes. Preliminary simulation
studies on the expected muon reconstruction and trigger performances of this
proposed upgraded muon system will be reported.Comment: 7 pages, 25 figures, submitted for publication in conference record
of the 2011 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, Valencia, Spai
New Physics at the LHC. A Les Houches Report: Physics at TeV Colliders 2009 - New Physics Working Group
We present a collection of signatures for physics beyond the standard model
that need to be explored at the LHC. First, are presented various tools
developed to measure new particle masses in scenarios where all decays include
an unobservable particle. Second, various aspects of supersymmetric models are
discussed. Third, some signatures of models of strong electroweak symmetry are
discussed. In the fourth part, a special attention is devoted to high mass
resonances, as the ones appearing in models with warped extra dimensions.
Finally, prospects for models with a hidden sector/valley are presented. Our
report, which includes brief experimental and theoretical reviews as well as
original results, summarizes the activities of the "New Physics" working group
for the "Physics at TeV Colliders" workshop (Les Houches, France, 8-26 June,
2009).Comment: 189 page
Dashen's phenomenon in gauge theories with spontaneously broken chiral symmetries
We examine Dashen’s phenomenon in the Leutwyler-Smilga regime of QCD with any number of colors and quarks in either the fundamental or adjoint representations of the gauge group. In this limit, the theories only depend on simple combinations of quark masses, the volume, chiral condensate and vacuum angle. Based upon this observation, we derive simple expressions for the chiral condensate and the topological density and show that they are in fact related. By examining the zeros of the various partition functions, we elucidate the mechanism leading to Dashen’s phenomena in QCD
Performance of a Large-Area GEM Detector Prototype for the Upgrade of the CMS Muon Endcap System
Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) technology is being considered for the forward
muon upgrade of the CMS experiment in Phase 2 of the CERN LHC. Its first
implementation is planned for the GE1/1 system in the region of the muon endcap mainly to control muon level-1 trigger rates
after the second long LHC shutdown. A GE1/1 triple-GEM detector is read out by
3,072 radial strips with 455 rad pitch arranged in eight -sectors.
We assembled a full-size GE1/1 prototype of 1m length at Florida Tech and
tested it in 20-120 GeV hadron beams at Fermilab using Ar/CO 70:30 and
the RD51 scalable readout system. Four small GEM detectors with 2-D readout and
an average measured azimuthal resolution of 36 rad provided precise
reference tracks. Construction of this largest GEM detector built to-date is
described. Strip cluster parameters, detection efficiency, and spatial
resolution are studied with position and high voltage scans. The plateau
detection efficiency is [97.1 0.2 (stat)]\%. The azimuthal resolution is
found to be [123.5 1.6 (stat)] rad when operating in the center of
the efficiency plateau and using full pulse height information. The resolution
can be slightly improved by 10 rad when correcting for the bias due
to discrete readout strips. The CMS upgrade design calls for readout
electronics with binary hit output. When strip clusters are formed
correspondingly without charge-weighting and with fixed hit thresholds, a
position resolution of [136.8 2.5 stat] rad is measured, consistent
with the expected resolution of strip-pitch/ = 131.3 rad. Other
-sectors of the detector show similar response and performance.Comment: 8 pages, 32 figures, submitted to Proc. 2014 IEEE Nucl. Sci.
Symposium, Seattle, WA, reference adde
Measurement of the Spin Asymmetry in the Photoproduction of Pairs of High-pT Hadrons at HERMES
We present a measurement of the longitudinal spin asymmetry A_|| in
photoproduction of pairs of hadrons with high transverse momentum p_T. Data
were accumulated by the HERMES experiment using a 27.5 GeV polarized positron
beam and a polarized hydrogen target internal to the HERA storage ring. For
h+h- pairs with p_T^h_1 > 1.5 GeV/c and p_T^h_2 > 1.0 GeV/c, the measured
asymmetry is A_|| = -0.28 +/- 0.12 (stat.) +/- 0.02 (syst.). This negative
value is in contrast to the positive asymmetries typically measured in deep
inelastic scattering from protons, and is interpreted to arise from a positive
gluon polarization.Comment: 5 pages (latex), 4 figures (eps
Measurement of Longitudinal Spin Transfer to Lambda Hyperons in Deep-Inelastic Lepton Scattering
Spin transfer in deep-inelastic Lambda electroproduction has been studied
with the HERMES detector using the 27.6 GeV polarized positron beam in the HERA
storage ring. For an average fractional energy transfer = 0.45, the
longitudinal spin transfer from the virtual photon to the Lambda has been
extracted. The spin transfer along the Lambda momentum direction is found to be
0.11 +/- 0.17 (stat) +/- 0.03 (sys); similar values are found for other
possible choices for the longitudinal spin direction of the Lambda. This result
is the most precise value obtained to date from deep-inelastic scattering with
charged lepton beams, and is sensitive to polarized up quark fragmentation to
hyperon states. The experimental result is found to be in general agreement
with various models of the Lambda spin content, and is consistent with the
assumption of helicity conservation in the fragmentation process.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; new version has an expanded discussion and small
format change
Observation of a Single-Spin Azimuthal Asymmetry in Semi-Inclusive Pion Electro-Production
Single-spin asymmetries for semi-inclusive pion production in deep-inelastic
scattering have been measured for the first time. A significant target-spin
asymmetry of the distribution in the azimuthal angle phi of the pion relative
to the lepton scattering plane was observed for pi+ electro-production on a
longitudinally polarized hydrogen target. The corresponding analyzing power in
the sin(phi) moment of the cross section is 0.022 +/- 0.005 +/- 0.003. This
result can be interpreted as the effect of terms in the cross section involving
chiral-odd spin distribution functions in combination with a time-reversal-odd
fragmentation function that is sensitive to the transverse polarization of the
fragmenting quark.Comment: 5 pages of RevTex, 3 ps figures, 2 table
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