We report a first measurement of the double-polarisation observable, Cx′, in π+ photoproduction off the proton. The Cx′ double-polarisation observable represents the transfer of polarisation from a ...circularly polarised photon beam to the recoiling neutron. The MAMI circularly polarised photon beam impinged on a liquid deuterium target cell, with reaction products detected in the Crystal Ball calorimeter. Ancillary apparatus surrounding the target provided tracking, particle identification and determination of recoil nucleon polarisation. The Cx′ observable is determined for photon energies 800-1400 MeV, providing new constraints on models aiming to elucidate the spectrum and properties of nucleon resonances. This is the first determination of any polarisation observable from the beam-recoil group of observables for this reaction. Inclusion of the new data in the database of the SAID partial wave analysis shifted the solution to a new global minima which, not only gives better agreement with the current data, but also improves the description of a range of other single and double polarisation observables for charged pion photoproduction.
Photoproduction of π0π±-pairs from quasifree nucleons bound in the deuteron has been investigated to study the helicity dependence of this reaction. Measurements with a liquid deuterium target were ...used to extract the unpolarized cross sections for reactions on protons and neutrons. A deuterated, longitudinally polarized solid-butanol target, together with a circularly polarized photon beam, determined the double polarization observable E. From these results the spin-dependent cross sections σ1/2 and σ3/2, corresponding to the anti-parallel and parallel spin configurations of the beam photon and target nucleon, have been derived. The measurements were performed at the Mainz MAMI accelerator with tagged, circularly-polarized photon beams produced via bremsstrahlung from longitudinally polarized electron beams. The reaction products were detected with an almost 4π solid-angle covering calorimeter composed of the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors, supplemented by plastic scintillation detectors for charged particle identification. The results are sensitive to sequential decays of nucleon resonances via intermediate states and also to the decay of nucleon resonances by emission of charged ρ mesons, and are compared to recent model results.
We report the first large-acceptance measurement of the beam–spin asymmetry for deuteron photodisintegration (γ→d→pn) in the photon energy range 420<Eγ<620MeV. The measurement provides important new ...constraints on the mechanisms of photodisintegration above the Δ resonance and on the photocoupling of the recently discovered d⁎(2380) hexaquark.
A first measurement of the polarisation transfer from a circularly-polarised photon to the final state neutron (Cx′n) in deuterium photodisintegration has been carried out. This quantity is ...determined over the photon energy range 370 – 700 MeV and for neutron centre-of-mass breakup angles ∼45−120∘. The polarisation of the final state neutrons was determined by an ancillary large-acceptance nucleon polarimeter, surrounding a cryogenic liquid deuterium target within the Crystal Ball detector at MAMI. The polarimeter characterised (n,p) charge exchange of the ejected neutrons to determine their polarisation. The new Cx′n data are also compared to a theoretical model based on nucleonic and nucleon resonance degrees of freedom constrained by the current world-database of deuterium photodisintegration measurements. Structures in Cx′n observed in the region of the d⁎(2380) could not be explained by conventional models of deuteron photodisintegration.
The beam-helicity asymmetry was measured, for the first time, in photoproduction of π0η pairs on carbon, aluminum, and lead, with the A2 experimental setup at MAMI. The results are compared to an ...earlier measurement on a free proton and to the corresponding theoretical calculations. The Mainz model is used to predict the beam-helicity asymmetry for the nuclear targets. The present results indicate that the photoproduction mechanism for π0η pairs on nuclei is similar to photoproduction on a free nucleon. This process is dominated by the D33 partial wave with the ηΔ(1232) intermediate state.
The double-polarization observable E and the helicity-dependent cross sections σ1/2 and σ3/2 have been measured for the first time for single π0 photoproduction from protons and neutrons bound in the ...deuteron at the electron accelerator facility MAMI in Mainz, Germany. The experiment used a circularly polarized photon beam and a longitudinally polarized deuterated butanol target. The reaction products, recoil nucleons and decay photons from the π0 meson were detected with the Crystal Ball and TAPS electromagnetic calorimeters. Effects from nuclear Fermi motion were removed by a kinematic reconstruction of the π0N final state. A comparison to data measured with a free proton target showed that the absolute scale of the cross sections is significantly modified by nuclear final-state interaction (FSI) effects. However, there is no significant effect on the asymmetry E since the σ1/2 and σ3/2 components appear to be influenced in a similar way. Thus, the best approximation of the two helicity-dependent cross sections for the free neutron is obtained by combining the asymmetry E measured with quasi-free neutrons and the unpolarized cross section corrected for FSI effects under the assumption that the FSI effects are similar for neutrons and protons.
Summary
objectives There is evidence from recent controlled clinical studies that replacement therapy of hypothyroidism with T4 in combination with a small amount of T3 may improve the well‐being of ...the patients. As the issue is still the subject of controversial discussion, our study was assigned to confirm the superiority of a physiological combination of thyroid hormones (absorbed molar ratio 14 : 1) over T4 alone with regard to mood states and cognitive functioning.
design and patients After a run‐in period with the T4 study medication for 4 weeks, a controlled, randomized, double‐blind, two‐period (each 12 weeks), cross‐over study without washout between the treatment periods was performed in 23 hypothyroid patients (three males, 20 females, age 23–69 years, 21 subjects after surgery/radioiodine, two with autoimmune thyroiditis) to compare the effects of the previous individual T4 dose (100–175 µg) with a treatment in which 5% of the respective T4 dose was substituted by T3.
measurements Standard hormonal characteristics and standardized psychological tests to quantify mood and cognitive performance were measured after the run‐in period and at the end of each treatment period. In 12 subjects, the concentration–time profiles of fT3 and fT4 were compared after the last administration of the respective study medication. TSH, fT3 and fT4 were measured with immunological assays.
clinical results Replacement therapy with T4 and T4/T3 was not different in all steady‐state hormonal, metabolic and cardiovascular characteristics except for TSH, which was more suppressed after T4/T3. The efficacy of replacement therapy with the T4/T3 combination was not different from the T4 monotherapy with regard to all psychological test scores describing mood and cognitive functioning of the patients. Mood was even significantly impaired by the T4/T3 combination in eight subjects, with TSH < 0·02 mU/l, compared to patients with normal TSH (Beck Depression Inventory: 8·25 ± 5·01 vs. 4·07 ± 5·60, P = 0·026).
pharmacokinetic results The area under the concentration–time curve (AUC0−8h) of fT3 was significantly higher after T4/T3 compared to the T4 monotherapy (42·8 ± 9·03 pmol × h/l vs. 36·3 ± 8·50 pmol × h/l, P < 0·05) and was significantly correlated to serum TSH (rs = −0·609, P < 0·05). After T4/T3, patients with a history of Graves’ disease or autoimmune thyroiditis had significantly higher serum trough levels of fT3 whereas the fT4 concentrations were significantly lower in patients with a nonautoimmune background.
conclusion Replacement therapy of hypothyroidism with T4 plus T3 does not improve mood and cognitive performance compared to the standard T4 monotherapy. There is even a higher risk of signs of subclinical hyperthyroidism associated with impaired well‐being of the patients, which is clearly caused by significant fluctuations in the steady‐state fT3 serum concentrations.
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The photoproduction of
and
mesons off carbon and niobium nuclei has been measured as a function of the meson momentum for incident photon energies of 1.2-2.9GeV at the electron accelerator ELSA. ...The mesons have been identified via the
and
decays, respectively, registered with the CBELSA/TAPS detector system. From the measured meson momentum distributions the momentum dependence of the transparency ratio has been determined for both mesons. Within a Glauber analysis the in-medium
and
widths and the corresponding absorption cross sections have been deduced as a function of the meson momentum. The results are compared to recent theoretical predictions for the in-medium
width and
-N absorption cross sections. The energy dependence of the imaginary part of the
- and
-nucleus optical potential has been extracted. The finer binning of the present data compared to the existing data allows a more reliable extrapolation towards the production threshold. The modulus of the imaginary part of the
-nucleus potential is found to be about three times smaller than recently determined values of the real part of the
-nucleus potential, which makes the
meson a suitable candidate for the search for meson-nucleus bound states. For the
meson, the modulus of the imaginary part near threshold is comparable to the modulus of the real part of the potential. As a consequence, only broad structures can be expected, which makes the observation of
mesic states very difficult experimentally.
The reactions γp→ηp and γp→η^{'}p are measured from their thresholds up to the center-of-mass energy W=1.96 GeV with the tagged-photon facilities at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. Differential cross ...sections are obtained with unprecedented statistical accuracy, providing fine energy binning and full production-angle coverage. A strong cusp is observed in the total cross section for η photoproduction at the energies in the vicinity of the η^{'} threshold, W=1896 MeV (E_{γ}=1447 MeV). Within the framework of a revised ηMAID isobar model, the cusp, in connection with a steep rise of the η^{'} total cross section from its threshold, can only be explained by a strong coupling of the poorly known N(1895)1/2^{-} state to both ηp and η^{'}p. Including the new high-accuracy results in the ηMAID fit to available η and η^{'} photoproduction data allows the determination of the N(1895)1/2^{-} properties.