176 research outputs found
Fertilitätsprotektion bei Krebspatientinnen: Die psychologische Dimension
Zusammenfassung: Krebsbehandlungen führen nicht selten zu einer Beeinträchtigung der Fruchtbarkeit. Für die weitere Lebensperspektive vieler junger Krebspatientinnen wäre es deshalb von großer Bedeutung, wenn im entscheidenden Moment Maßnahmen zur Erhaltung ihrer Fruchtbarkeit getroffen würden. Die Entscheidung für oder gegen eine fruchtbarkeitserhaltende Maßnahme bedeutet jedoch eine zusätzliche Belastung für alle Beteiligten. Das enge Zeitfenster zwischen Diagnosestellung und Beginn der Krebsbehandlung bedingt, dass die Entscheidung unter beträchtlichem Zeitdruck gefällt werden muss und oft mit einem Chaos der Gefühle - von existenzieller Todesangst bis hin zu Hoffnung und Euphorie - verbunden ist. Wird den Patientinnen diese Möglichkeit aber nicht angeboten, kann die psychische Belastung, die durch den Verlust der Furchtbarkeit entstehen kann, möglicherweise ein Leben lang bestehen. Basierend auf den zur Verfügung stehenden Studienresultaten werden psychologische Aspekte im Zusammenhang mit der Fertilitätsprotektion bei jungen Krebspatientinnen dargelegt. Insbesondere wird auf den Stellenwert der Fruchtbarkeit, die Haltung gegenüber fruchtbarkeitserhaltenden Maßnahmen, auf Konflikte bei der Entscheidungsfindung und auf Unterstützungsmöglichkeiten eingegange
Convergence properties of decays in chiral perturbation theory
Theoretical efforts to describe and explain the decays reach
far back in time. Even today, the convergence of the decay widths and some of
the Dalitz plot parameters seems problematic in low energy QCD. In the
framework of resummed CHPT, we explore the question of compatibility of
experimental data with a reasonable convergence of a carefully defined chiral
series, where NNLO remainders are assumed to be small. By treating the
uncertainties in the higher orders statistically, we numerically generate a
large set of theoretical predictions, which are then confronted with
experimental information. In the case of the decay widths, the experimental
values can be reconstructed for a reasonable range of the free parameters and
thus no tension is observed, in spite of what some of the traditional
calculations suggest. The Dalitz plot parameters and can be described
very well too. When the parameters and are concerned, we find a
mild tension for the whole range of the free parameters, at less than 2
C.L. This can be interpreted in two ways - either some of the higher order
corrections are indeed unexpectedly large or there is a specific configuration
of the remainders, which is, however, not completely improbable. Also, the
distribution of the theoretical uncertainties is found to be significantly
non-gaussian, so the consistency cannot be simply judged by the 1 error
bars.Comment: 57 pages, 5 figure
Isospin Breaking and -> Decay
We study decay up to including all orders of the chiral
expansion and one-loop level of mesons in formlism of chiral constituent quark
model. This G-parity forbidden decay is caused by and
electromagnetic interaction of mesons. We illustrate that in the formlism both
nonresonant contact interaction and resonance exchange contribute to
this process, and the contribution from resonance exchange is dominant.
We obtain that transition matrix element is
MeV, and
isospin breaking parameter is MeV at energy scale .Comment: Revtex file, 16 pages, four eps figur
Gauge-invariant Green's functions for the bosonic sector of the standard model
There are many applications in gauge theories where the usually employed
framework involving gauge-dependent Green's functions leads to considerable
problems. In order to overcome the difficulties invariably tied to gauge
dependence, we present a manifestly gauge-invariant approach. We propose a
generating functional of appropriately chosen gauge-invariant Green's functions
for the bosonic sector of the standard model. Since the corresponding external
sources emit one-particle states, these functions yield the same S-matrix
elements as those obtained in the usual framework. We evaluate the generating
functional for the bosonic sector of the standard model up to the one-loop
level and carry out its renormalization in the on-shell scheme. Explicit
results for some two-point functions are given. Gauge invariance is manifest at
any step of our calculation.Comment: 29 pages, Revtex. v2: Discussions improved, conclusions unchanged.
Some references added. v3: Published versio
The Electromagnetic Mass Differences of Pions and Kaons
We use the Cottingham method to calculate the pion and kaon electromagnetic
mass differences with as few model dependent inputs as possible. The
constraints of chiral symmetry at low energy, QCD at high energy and
experimental data in between are used in the dispersion relation. We find
excellent agreement with experiment for the pion mass difference. The kaon mass
difference exhibits a strong violation of the lowest order prediction of
Dashen's theorem, in qualitative agreement with several other recent
calculations.Comment: 40 pages, Latex, needs axodraw. and psfig. macros, 4 figure
Shape modeling technique KOALA validated by ESA Rosetta at (21) Lutetia
We present a comparison of our results from ground-based observations of
asteroid (21) Lutetia with imaging data acquired during the flyby of the
asteroid by the ESA Rosetta mission. This flyby provided a unique opportunity
to evaluate and calibrate our method of determination of size, 3-D shape, and
spin of an asteroid from ground-based observations. We present our 3-D
shape-modeling technique KOALA which is based on multi-dataset inversion. We
compare the results we obtained with KOALA, prior to the flyby, on asteroid
(21) Lutetia with the high-spatial resolution images of the asteroid taken with
the OSIRIS camera on-board the ESA Rosetta spacecraft, during its encounter
with Lutetia. The spin axis determined with KOALA was found to be accurate to
within two degrees, while the KOALA diameter determinations were within 2% of
the Rosetta-derived values. The 3-D shape of the KOALA model is also confirmed
by the spectacular visual agreement between both 3-D shape models (KOALA pre-
and OSIRIS post-flyby). We found a typical deviation of only 2 km at local
scales between the profiles from KOALA predictions and OSIRIS images, resulting
in a volume uncertainty provided by KOALA better than 10%. Radiometric
techniques for the interpretation of thermal infrared data also benefit greatly
from the KOALA shape model: the absolute size and geometric albedo can be
derived with high accuracy, and thermal properties, for example the thermal
inertia, can be determined unambiguously. We consider this to be a validation
of the KOALA method. Because space exploration will remain limited to only a
few objects, KOALA stands as a powerful technique to study a much larger set of
small bodies using Earth-based observations.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in P&S
The electroweak chiral Lagrangian reanalyzed
In this paper we reanalyze the electroweak chiral Lagrangian with particular
focus on two issues related to gauge invariance. Our analysis is based on a
manifestly gauge-invariant approach that we introduced recently. It deals with
gauge-invariant Green's functions and provides a method to evaluate the
corresponding generating functional without fixing the gauge. First we show,
for the case where no fermions are included in the effective Lagrangian, that
the set of low-energy constants currently used in the literature is redundant.
In particular, by employing the equations of motion for the gauge fields one
can choose to remove two low-energy constants which contribute to the
self-energies of the gauge bosons. If fermions are included in the effective
field theory analysis the situation is more involved. Even in this case,
however, these contributions to the self-energies of the gauge bosons can be
removed. The relation of this result to the experimentally determined values
for the oblique parameters S, T, and U is discussed. In the second part of the
paper we consider the matching relation between a full and an effective theory.
We show how the low-energy constants of the effective Lagrangian can be
determined by matching gauge-invariant Green's functions in both theories. As
an application we explicitly evaluate the low-energy constants for the standard
model with a heavy Higgs boson. The matching at the one-loop level and at
next-to-leading order in the low-energy expansion is performed employing
functional methods.Comment: 44 pages, Revtex. v2: Sections II and III interchanged. New section
II now self-contained. Discussions improved in sections I, II, V.C and VI.
Conclusions unchanged. Published versio
Isospin breaking corrections to low-energy pi-K scattering
We evaluate the matrix elements for the processes pi^0 K^0 -> pi^0 K^0 and
pi^- K^+ -> pi^0 K^0 in the presence of isospin breaking terms at leading and
next-to-leading order. As a direct application the releveant combination of the
S-wave scattering lengths involved in the pion-kaon atom lifetime is
determined. We discuss the sensitivity of the results with respect to the input
parameters.Comment: 33 pages, plain latex, 2 figure
Cancer Predisposition Cascade Screening for Hereditary Breast/Ovarian Cancer and Lynch Syndromes in Switzerland: Study Protocol
Background : Breast, colorectal, ovarian, and endometrial cancers constitute approximately 30% of newly diagnosed cancer cases in Switzerland, affecting more than 12,000 individuals annually. Hundreds of these patients are likely to carry germline pathogenic variants associated with hereditary breast ovarian cancer (HBOC) or Lynch syndrome (LS). Genetic services (counseling and testing) for hereditary susceptibility to cancer can prevent many cancer diagnoses and deaths through early identification and risk management. Objective : Cascade screening is the systematic identification and testing of relatives of a known mutation carrier. It determines whether asymptomatic relatives also carry the known variant, needing management options to reduce future harmful outcomes. Specific aims of the CASCADE study are to (1) survey index cases with HBOC or LS from clinic-based genetic testing records and determine their current cancer status and surveillance practices, needs for coordination of medical care, psychosocial needs, patient-provider and patient-family communication, quality of life, and willingness to serve as advocates for cancer genetic services to blood relatives, (2) survey first- and second-degree relatives and first-cousins identified from pedigrees or family history records of HBOC and LS index cases and determine their current cancer and mutation status, cancer surveillance practices, needs for coordination of medical care, barriers and facilitators to using cancer genetic services, psychosocial needs, patient-provider and patient-family communication, quality of life, and willingness to participate in a study designed to increase use of cancer genetic services, and (3) explore the influence of patient-provider communication about genetic cancer risk on patient-family communication and the acceptability of a family-based communication, coping, and decision support intervention with focus group(s) of mutation carriers and relatives. Methods: CASCADE is a longitudinal study using surveys (online or paper/pencil) and focus groups, designed to elicit factors that enhance cascade genetic testing for HBOC and LS in Switzerland. Repeated observations are the optimal way for assessing these outcomes. Focus groups will examine barriers in patient-provider and patient-family communication, and the acceptability of a family-based communication, coping, and decision-support intervention. The survey will be developed in English, translated into three languages (German, French, and Italian), and back-translated into English, except for scales with validated versions in these languages. Results: Descriptive analyses will include calculating means, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages of variables and participant descriptors. Bivariate analyses (Pearson correlations, chi-square test for differences in proportions, and t test for differences in means) will assess associations between demographics and clinical characteristics. Regression analyses will incorporate generalized estimating equations for pairing index cases with their relatives and explore whether predictors are in direct, mediating, or moderating relationship to an outcome. Focus group data will be transcribed verbatim and analyzed for common themes. Conclusions: Robust evidence from basic science and descriptive population-based studies in Switzerland support the necessity of cascade screening for genetic predisposition to HBOC and LS. CASCADE is designed to address translation of this knowledge into public health interventions. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03124212; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03124212 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6tKZnNDBt
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