1,152 research outputs found
The influence of HIV infection on the age dependence of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin in South Africa
BACKGROUND. Cancer incidence typically increases with age, but it is not known whether ethnic characteristics influence the age dependence
of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin (SCC).
OBJECTIVES. (i) To determine the age dependence of SCC in the black African, coloured and white population groups of South Africa (SA);
and (ii) to show whether any differences in the rate of change of age dependence could be influenced by diversity in behaviour and lifestyle,
especially with regard to the prevalence of HIV infection, rather than by a fundamental variation in cancer biology between the populations.
METHODS. Linear regression analysis was applied to the logarithm of the age-specific incidence rates for SCC v. the logarithm of age between
35 and 74 years. The slopes of the regression (age exponent) were compared for each subset of gender, population group and year of
diagnosis (between 2000 and 2010).
RESULTS. The most notable feature was the low value of the age exponent in both male and female black African compared with the white
and coloured populations. This finding could be explained in part by the difference in the prevalence of HIV infection in the black African
population group compared with the white and coloured population groups.
CONCLUSIONS. The prevalence of HIV infection in black Africans in SA tends to decrease the apparent age component in SCC compared
with the white and coloured population groups. Other factors relating to lifestyle and behaviour that differ between the population groups
are also likely to influence the age component in SCC.The National
Research Foundation of South Africa and the South African Medical
Research Council.http://www.samj.org.zaam2017Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorolog
Factorizing the hard and soft spectator scattering contributions for the nucleon form factor F_1 at large Q^2
We investigate the soft spectator scattering contribution for the FF .
We focus our attention on factorization of the hard-collinear scale corresponding to transition from SCET-I to SCET-II. We compute the
leading order jet functions and find that the convolution integrals over the
soft fractions are logarithmically divergent. This divergency is the
consequence of the boost invariance and does not depend on the model of the
soft correlation function describing the soft spectator quarks. Using as
example a two-loop diagram we demonstrated that such a divergency corresponds
to the overlap of the soft and collinear regions. As a result one obtains large
rapidity logarithm which must be included in the correct factorization
formalism. We conclude that a consistent description of the factorization for
implies the end-point collinear divergencies in the hard and soft
spectator contributions, i.e. convolution integrals with respect to collinear
fractions are not well-defined. Such scenario can only be realized when the
twist-3 nucleon distribution amplitude has specific end-point behavior which
differs from one expected from the evolution of the nucleon distribution
amplitude. Such behavior leads to the violation of the collinear factorization
for the hard spectator scattering contribution. We suggest that the soft
spectator scattering and chiral symmetry breaking provide the mechanism
responsible for the violation of collinear factorization in case of form factor
.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures, text is improved, few typos corrected, one
figure added, statement about end-point behavior of the nucleon DA is
formulated more accuratel
Homogenized dynamics of stochastic partial differential equations with dynamical boundary conditions
A microscopic heterogeneous system under random influence is considered. The
randomness enters the system at physical boundary of small scale obstacles as
well as at the interior of the physical medium. This system is modeled by a
stochastic partial differential equation defined on a domain perforated with
small holes (obstacles or heterogeneities), together with random dynamical
boundary conditions on the boundaries of these small holes.
A homogenized macroscopic model for this microscopic heterogeneous stochastic
system is derived. This homogenized effective model is a new stochastic partial
differential equation defined on a unified domain without small holes, with
static boundary condition only. In fact, the random dynamical boundary
conditions are homogenized out, but the impact of random forces on the small
holes' boundaries is quantified as an extra stochastic term in the homogenized
stochastic partial differential equation. Moreover, the validity of the
homogenized model is justified by showing that the solutions of the microscopic
model converge to those of the effective macroscopic model in probability
distribution, as the size of small holes diminishes to zero.Comment: Communications in Mathematical Physics, to appear, 200
Root exudate analogues accelerate CO 2 and CH 4 production in tropical peat
Root exudates represent a large and labile carbon input in tropical peatlands, but their contribution to carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) production remains poorly understood. Changes in species composition and productivity of peatland plant communities in response to global change could alter both inputs of exudates and associated greenhouse gas emissions. We used manipulative laboratory incubations to assess the extent to which root exudate quantity and chemical composition drives greenhouse gas emissions from tropical peatlands. Peat was sampled from beneath canopy palms (Raphia taedigera) and broadleaved evergreen trees (Campnosperma panamensis) in an ombrotrophic wetland in Panama. Root exudate analogues comprising a mixture of sugars and organic acids were added in solution to peats derived from both species, with CO2 and CH4 measured over time. CO2 and CH4 production increased under most treatments, but the magnitude and duration of the response depended on the composition of the added labile carbon mixture rather than the quantity of carbon added or the botanical origin of the peat. Treatments containing organic acids increased soil pH and altered other soil properties including redox potential but did not affect the activities of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes. CO2 but not CH4 production was found to be linearly related to microbial activity and redox potential. Our findings demonstrate the importance of root exudate composition in regulating greenhouse gas fluxes and propose that in situ plant species changes, particularly those associated with land use change, may account for small scale spatial variation in CO2 and CH4 fluxes due to species specific root exudate compositions
Hard Photodisintegration of a Proton Pair
We present a study of high energy photodisintegration of proton-pairs through
the gamma + 3He -> p+p+n channel. Photon energies from 0.8 to 4.7 GeV were used
in kinematics corresponding to a proton pair with high relative momentum and a
neutron nearly at rest. The s-11 scaling of the cross section, as predicted by
the constituent counting rule for two nucleon photodisintegration, was observed
for the first time. The onset of the scaling is at a higher energy and the
cross section is significantly lower than for deuteron (pn pair)
photodisintegration. For photon energies below the scaling region, the scaled
cross section was found to present a strong energy-dependent structure not
observed in deuteron photodisintegration.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, for submission to Phys. Lett.
Observation of exclusive DVCS in polarized electron beam asymmetry measurements
We report the first results of the beam spin asymmetry measured in the
reaction e + p -> e + p + gamma at a beam energy of 4.25 GeV. A large asymmetry
with a sin(phi) modulation is observed, as predicted for the interference term
of Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering and the Bethe-Heitler process. The
amplitude of this modulation is alpha = 0.202 +/- 0.028. In leading-order and
leading-twist pQCD, the alpha is directly proportional to the imaginary part of
the DVCS amplitude.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
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