TAUOLA the library for tau lepton decay, and KKMC/KORALB/KORALZ/... status report

The status of the Monte Carlo programs for the simulation of the $\tau$ lepton production in high energy accelerator experiments and decay is reviewed. In particular, the status of the following packages is discussed: (i) TAUOLA for tau-lepton decay, (ii) PHOTOS for radiative corrections in decays, (iii) KORALB, KORALZ, KKMC packages for tau-pair production in e+e- collisions and (iv) universal interface of TAUOLA for the decay of tau-leptons produced by``any'' generator. Special emphasis on requirements from new and future experiments is given. Some considerations about the software organization necessary to keep simultaneously distinct physics initializations for TAUOLA are also included.Comment: latex 7 pages, including 1 table and 5 figure files, all 6 in postscript format. Presented on 'Sixth international workshop on tau lepton physics', Victoria Canada, September 200

Canadian national sport organisations’ use of the web for relationship marketing in promoting sport participation

Sport participation development requires a systematic process which involves knowledge creation, dissemination and interactions between National Sport Organisations, participants, clubs and associations as well as other agencies. Using a relationship marketing approach (Grönroos, 1997, Gummesson, 2002, Olkkonen, 1999), this paper addressed the question ‘How do Canadian NSOs use the Web, in terms of functionality and services offered, to create and maintain relationships with sport participants and their sport delivery partners?’ Ten Canadian NSOs’ websites were examined: functionality was analysed using Burgess and Cooper’s (2000) eMICA model, while NSOs’ utilisation of the Internet to establish and maintain relationships with sport participants was analysed using Wang, Head and Archer’s (2000) relationship-building process model for the Web. It was found that Canadian NSOs were receptive to the use of the Web, but their information-gathering and dissemination activities, which make-up the relationship-building process, appear sparse, and in some cases are lagging behind the voluntary sector in the country

Quantum internal modes of solitons in 1d easy-plane antiferromagnet in strong magnetic field

In presence of a strong external magnetic field the dynamics of solitons in a one-dimensional easy-plane Heisenberg antiferromagnet exhibits a number of peculiarities. Dynamics of internal soliton degrees of freedom is essentially quantum, and they are strongly coupled to the "translational" mode of soliton movement. These peculiarities lead to considerable changes in the response functions of the system which can be detected experimentally.Comment: 8 pages, RevTeX, 6 figures, uses psfig.sty, submitted to PR

Exploring the Role of Vitamin D. Comments on Fleury et al. Sun Exposure and Its Effects on Human Health: mechanisms through Which Sun Exposure Could Reduce the Risk of Developing Obesity and Cardiometabolic Dysfunction

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Could an endoneurial endothelial crosstalk between Wnt/β-catenin and Sonic Hedgehog pathways underlie the early disruption of the infra-orbital blood-nerve barrier following chronic constriction injury?

BackgroundBlood–nerve barrier disruption is pivotal in the development of neuroinflammation, peripheral sensitization, and neuropathic pain after peripheral nerve injury. Activation of toll-like receptor 4 and inactivation of Sonic Hedgehog signaling pathways within the endoneurial endothelial cells are key events, resulting in the infiltration of harmful molecules and immunocytes within the nerve parenchyma. However, we showed in a previous study that preemptive inactivation of toll-like receptor 4 signaling or sustained activation of Sonic Hedgehog signaling did not prevent the local alterations observed following peripheral nerve injury, suggesting the implication of another signaling pathway.MethodsUsing a classical neuropathic pain model, the infraorbital nerve chronic constriction injury (IoN-CCI), we investigated the role of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in chronic constriction injury-mediated blood–nerve barrier disruption and in its interactions with the toll-like receptor 4 and Sonic Hedgehog pathways. In the IoN-CCI model versus control, mRNA expression levels and/or immunochemical detection of major Wnt/Sonic Hedgehog pathway (Frizzled-7, vascular endothelial-cadherin, Patched-1 and Gli-1) and/or tight junction proteins (Claudin-1, Claudin-5, and Occludin) readouts were assessed. Vascular permeability was assessed by sodium fluorescein extravasation.ResultsIoN-CCI induced early alterations in the vascular endothelial-cadherin/β-catenin/Frizzled-7 complex, shown to participate in local blood–nerve barrier disruption via a β-catenin-dependent tight junction protein downregulation. Wnt pathway also mediated a crosstalk between toll-like receptor 4 and Sonic Hedgehog signaling within endoneurial endothelial cells. Nevertheless, preemptive inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling before IoN-CCI could not prevent the downregulation of key Sonic Hedgehog pathway readouts or the disruption of the infraorbital blood–nerve barrier, suggesting that Sonic Hedgehog pathway inhibition observed following IoN-CCI is an independent event responsible for blood–nerve barrier disruption.ConclusionA crosstalk between Wnt/β-catenin- and Sonic Hedgehog-mediated signaling pathways within endoneurial endothelial cells could mediate the chronic disruption of the blood–nerve barrier following IoN-CCI, resulting in increased irreversible endoneurial vascular permeability and neuropathic pain development

Canadian national sport organisations’ use of the web for relationship marketing in promoting sport participation

Sport participation development requires a systematic process which involves knowledge creation, dissemination and interactions between National Sport Organisations, participants, clubs and associations as well as other agencies. Using a relationship marketing approach (Grönroos, 1997, Gummesson, 2002, Olkkonen, 1999), this paper addressed the question ‘How do Canadian NSOs use the Web, in terms of functionality and services offered, to create and maintain relationships with sport participants and their sport delivery partners?’ Ten Canadian NSOs’ websites were examined: functionality was analysed using Burgess and Cooper’s (2000) eMICA model, while NSOs’ utilisation of the Internet to establish and maintain relationships with sport participants was analysed using Wang, Head and Archer’s (2000) relationship-building process model for the Web. It was found that Canadian NSOs were receptive to the use of the Web, but their information-gathering and dissemination activities, which make-up the relationship-building process, appear sparse, and in some cases are lagging behind the voluntary sector in the country

Integration of the White Sands Complex into a Wide Area Network

The NASA White Sands Complex (WSC) satellite communications facility consists of two main ground stations, an auxiliary ground station, a technical support facility, and a power plant building located on White Sands Missile Range. When constructed, terrestrial communication access to these facilities was limited to copper telephone circuits. There was no local or wide area communications network capability. This project incorporated a baseband local area network (LAN) topology at WSC and connected it to NASA's wide area network using the Program Support Communications Network-Internet (PSCN-I). A campus-style LAN is configured in conformance with the International Standards Organization (ISO) Open Systems Interconnect (ISO) model. Ethernet provides the physical and data link layers. Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) are used for the network and transport layers. The session, presentation, and application layers employ commercial software packages. Copper-based Ethernet collision domains are constructed in each of the primary facilities and these are interconnected by routers over optical fiber links. The network and each of its collision domains are shown to meet IEEE technical configuration guidelines. The optical fiber links are analyzed for the optical power budget and bandwidth allocation and are found to provide sufficient margin for this application. Personal computers and work stations attached to the LAN communicate with and apply a wide variety of local and remote administrative software tools. The Internet connection provides wide area network (WAN) electronic access to other NASA centers and the world wide web (WWW). The WSC network reduces and simplifies the administrative workload while providing enhanced and advanced inter-communications capabilities among White Sands Complex departments and with other NASA centers

OGYGES AND VETURIUS (COLEOPTERA: PASSALIDAE) IN CENTRAL AMERICA: SYNONYMIES, RANGE EXTENSIONS AND NEW SPECIES

The following nomenclatural changes in passalid taxonomy are made: Veturius laevior (Kaup 1868) n.stat., bona sp.; V. lineatosulcatus Luederwaldt 1941, n. syn. of V. laevior; Ogyges championi (Bates 1886) n. stat., bona sp.; and O. laevior (Kaup 1868) sensu auct., n. syn.of O. championi. New distribution records are given for V. sinuatocollis Kuwert 1890 (Honduras), O. crassulus (Casey) (Guatemala, Honduras), O. championi, O. cakchiqueli Schuster & Reyes-Castillo 1990, O. tzutuhili Schuster & Reyes-Castillo 1990, O. hondurensis Schuster & Reyes- Castillo 1990, O. quichensis Schuster & Reyes-Castillo 1990 and O. politus (Hincks 1953) (Guatemala). O. crassulus is redescribed and O. coxchicopi n. sp., O. monzoni n. sp., O. aluxi n. sp. and O. nahuali n. sp. are described, all species from cloud forests between 900 and 2064m altitude in Guatemala and Honduras. A key to the species of Ogyges is given.Se realizaron los siguientes cambios nomenclatoriales en la taxonomía de Passalidae: Veturius laevior (Kaup 1868) n.stat., bona sp.; V. lineatosulcatus Luederwaldt 1941, n. syn. de V. laevior; Ogyges championi (Bates 1886) n. stat., bona sp.; y O. laevior (Kaup 1868) sensu auct., n. syn.de O. championi. Se presentan nuevos registros de distribución de V. sinuatocollis Kuwert 1890 (Honduras), O. crassulus (Casey) (Guatemala, Honduras), O. championi, O. cakchiqueli Schuster & Reyes-Castillo 1990, O. tzutuhili Schuster & Reyes-Castillo 1990, O. hondurensis Schuster & Reyes-Castillo 1990, O. quichensis Schuster & Reyes-Castillo 1990 y O. politus (Hincks 1953) (Guatemala). Se redescribe O. crassulus y se describen O. coxchicopi n. sp., O. monzoni n. sp., O. aluxi n .sp. y O. nahuali n. sp., todas especies de bosques nubosos o mesófilos de montaña, entre 900 y 2064msnm de Guatemala y Honduras. Se presenta una clave para las especies de Ogyges