Moment Analysis of Magnetic Resonance Signals

A relation is given between the moments of a generalized convolution transform of a function, and the moments of the function itself. This relation is applied to the signal obtained with a field‐modulated EPR spectrometer, a consequence being that the integrated intensity of an absorption line may be obtained from first moment measurements at any modulation amplitude, regardless of line shape or various instrumental nonidealities. This result has been verified experimentally to within a few percent with a Varian EPR spectrometer. Extension to measurement of higher moments is discussed

Moment Analysis of Magnetic Resonance Signals

A relation is given between the moments of a generalized convolution transform of a function, and the moments of the function itself. This relation is applied to the signal obtained with a field‐modulated EPR spectrometer, a consequence being that the integrated intensity of an absorption line may be obtained from first moment measurements at any modulation amplitude, regardless of line shape or various instrumental nonidealities. This result has been verified experimentally to within a few percent with a Varian EPR spectrometer. Extension to measurement of higher moments is discussed

Universal Behavior of Charged Particle Production in Heavy Ion Collisions

The PHOBOS experiment at RHIC has measured the multiplicity of primary charged particles as a function of centrality and pseudorapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 19.6, 130 and 200 GeV. Two kinds of universal behavior are observed in charged particle production in heavy ion collisions. The first is that forward particle production, over a range of energies, follows a universal limiting curve with a non-trivial centrality dependence. The second arises from comparisons with pp/pbar-p and e+e- data. N_tot/(N_part/2) in nuclear collisions at high energy scales with sqrt(s) in a similar way as N_tot in e+e- collisions and has a very weak centrality dependence. This feature may be related to a reduction in the leading particle effect due to the multiple collisions suffered per participant in heavy ion collisions.Comment: 4 Pages, 5 Figures, contributed to the Proceedings of Quark Matter 2002, Nantes, France, 18-24 July 200

The Landscape of Particle Production: Results from PHOBOS

Recent results from the PHOBOS experiment at RHIC are presented, both from Au+Au collisions from the 2001 run and p+p and d+Au collisions from 2003. The centrality dependence of the total charged particle multiplicity in p+p and d+Au show features, such as Npart-scaling and limiting fragmentation, similar to p+A collisions at lower energies. Multiparticle physics in Au+Au is found to be local in (pseudo)rapidity, both when observed by HBT correlations and by forward-backward pseudorapidity correlations. The shape of elliptic flow in Au+Au, measured over the full range of pseudorapidity, appears to have a very weak centrality dependence. Identified particle ratios in d+Au reactions show little difference between the shape of proton and anti-proton spectra, while the absolute yields show an approximate m_T scaling.Comment: 8 Pages, 11 Figures, Plenary talk at Quark Matter 2004, Oakland, CA, January 11-18, 200

Environmental and Lifestyle Factors Associated with Perceived Facial Age in Chinese Women

Perceived facial age has been proposed as a biomarker of ageing with ‘looking young for one’s age' linked to physical and cognitive functioning and to increased survival for Caucasians. We have investigated the environmental and lifestyle factors associated with perceived facial ageing in Chinese women. Facial photographs were collected from 250 Chinese women, aged 25–70 years in Shanghai, China. Perceived facial age was determined and related to chronological age for each participant. Lifestyle and health information was collected by questionnaire. Bivariate analyses (controlling for chronological age) identified and quantified lifestyle variables associated with perceived facial age. Independent predictors of perceived age were identified by multivariate modelling. Factors which significantly associated with looking younger for one's chronological age included greater years of education (p<0.001), fewer household members (p = 0.027), menopausal status (p = 0.020), frequency of visiting one's doctor (p = 0.013), working indoors (p<0.001), spending less time in the sun (p = 0.015), moderate levels of physical activity (p = 0.004), higher frequency of teeth cleaning (p<0.001) and more frequent use of facial care products: cleanser (p<0.001); moisturiser (p = 0.016) or night cream (p = 0.016). Overall, 36.5% of the variation in the difference between perceived and chronological age could be explained by a combination of chronological age and 6 independent lifestyle variables. We have thus identified and quantified a number of factors associated with younger appearance in Chinese women. Presentation of these factors in the context of facial appearance could provide significant motivation for the adoption of a range of healthy behaviours at the level of both individuals and populations

A search for charged massive long-lived particles

We report on a search for charged massive long-lived particles (CMLLPs), based on 5.2 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron $p\bar{p}$ collider. We search for events in which one or more particles are reconstructed as muons but have speed and ionization energy loss $(dE/dx)$ inconsistent with muons produced in beam collisions. CMLLPs are predicted in several theories of physics beyond the standard model. We exclude pair-produced long-lived gaugino-like charginos below 267 GeV and higgsino-like charginos below 217 GeV at 95% C.L., as well as long-lived scalar top quarks with mass below 285 GeV.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter

CLIC: a Two-Beam Multi-TeV e±e\pm Linear Collider

The CLIC study of a high-energy (0.5 - 5 TeV), high-luminosity (1034 - 1035 cm-2 sec-1) e+e- linear collider is presented. Beam acceleration using high frequency (30 GHz) normal-conducting structures operating at high accelerating fields (150 MV/m) significantly reduces the length and, in consequence, the cost of the linac. Using parameters derived from general scaling laws for linear colliders, the beam stability is shown to be similar to lower frequency designs in spite of the strong wake-field dependency on frequency. A new cost-effective and efficient drive beam generation scheme for RF power production by the so-called "Two-Beam Acceleration" method is described. It uses a thermionic gun and a fully-loaded normal-conducting linac operating at low frequency (937 MHz) to generate and accelerate the drive beam bunches, and RF multiplication by funnelling in compressor rings to produce the desired bunch structure. Recent 30 GHz hardware developments and CLIC Test Facility (CTF) results are described

A Geometrical Model for DNA Organization in Bacteria

Recent experimental studies have revealed that bacteria, such as C. crescentus, show a remarkable spatial ordering of their chromosome. A strong linear correlation has been found between the position of genes on the chromosomal map and their spatial position in the cellular volume. We show that this correlation can be explained by a purely geometrical model. Namely, self-avoidance of DNA, specific positioning of one or few DNA loci (such as origin or terminus) together with the action of DNA compaction proteins (that organize the chromosome into topological domains) are sufficient to get a linear arrangement of the chromosome along the cell axis. We develop a Monte-Carlo method that allows us to test our model numerically and to analyze the dependence of the spatial ordering on various physiologically relevant parameters. We show that the proposed geometrical ordering mechanism is robust and universal (i.e. does not depend on specific bacterial details). The geometrical mechanism should work in all bacteria that have compacted chromosomes with spatially fixed regions. We use our model to make specific and experimentally testable predictions about the spatial arrangement of the chromosome in mutants of C. crescentus and the growth-stage dependent ordering in E. coli

A sequence variant at 4p16.3 confers susceptibility to urinary bladder cancer

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldPreviously, we reported germline DNA variants associated with risk of urinary bladder cancer (UBC) in Dutch and Icelandic subjects. Here we expanded the Icelandic sample set and tested the top 20 markers from the combined analysis in several European case-control sample sets, with a total of 4,739 cases and 45,549 controls. The T allele of rs798766 on 4p16.3 was found to associate with UBC (odds ratio = 1.24, P = 9.9 x 10(-12)). rs798766 is located in an intron of TACC3, 70 kb from FGFR3, which often harbors activating somatic mutations in low-grade, noninvasive UBC. Notably, rs798766[T] shows stronger association with low-grade and low-stage UBC than with more aggressive forms of the disease and is associated with higher risk of recurrence in low-grade stage Ta tumors. The frequency of rs798766[T] is higher in Ta tumors that carry an activating mutation in FGFR3 than in Ta tumors with wild-type FGFR3. Our results show a link between germline variants, somatic mutations of FGFR3 and risk of UBC.info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/21807