We report the first measurements of the transverse (Px and Py) and longitudinal (Pz) components of the polarization transfer to a bound proton in the deuteron via the H2(e→,e′p→) reaction, over a ...wide range of missing momentum. A precise determination of the electron beam polarization reduces the systematic uncertainties on the individual components to a level that enables a detailed comparison to a state-of-the-art calculation of the deuteron using free-proton electromagnetic form factors. We observe very good agreement between the measured and the calculated Px/Pz ratios, but deviations of the individual components. Our results cannot be explained by medium modified electromagnetic form factors. They point to an incomplete description of the nuclear reaction mechanism in the calculation.
A comparison between polarization-transfer to a bound proton in quasi-free kinematics by the A(e→,e′p→) knockout reaction and that in elastic scattering off a free proton can provide information on ...the characteristics of the bound proton. In the past the reported measurements have been compared to those of a free proton with zero initial momentum. We introduce, for the first time, expressions for the polarization-transfer components when the proton is initially in motion and compare them to the 2H data measured at the Mainz Microtron (MAMI). We show the ratios of the transverse (Px) and longitudinal (Pz) components of the polarization transfer in H2(e→,e′p→)n, to those of elastic scattering off a “moving proton”, assuming the proton's initial (Fermi-motion) momentum equals the negative missing momentum in the measured reaction. We found that the correction due to the proton motion is up to 20% at high missing momentum. However the effect on the double ratio (Px/Pz)A(Px/Pz)H1 is largely canceled out, as shown for both 2H and 12C data. This implies that the difference between the resting- and the moving-proton kinematics is not the primary cause for the deviations between quasi-elastic and elastic scattering reported previously.
We report measurements of the induced polarization P→ of protons knocked out from 2H and 12C via the A(e,e′p→) reaction. We have studied the dependence of P→ on two kinematic variables: the missing ...momentum pmiss and the “off-coplanarity” angle ϕpq between the scattering and reaction planes. For the full 360° range in ϕpq, both the normal (Py) and, for the first time, the transverse (Px) components of the induced polarization were measured with respect to the coordinate system associated with the scattering plane. Px vanishes in coplanar kinematics, however in non-coplanar kinematics, it is on the same scale as Py.
We find that the dependence on ϕpq is sine-like for Px and cosine-like for Py. For carbon, the magnitude of the induced polarization is especially large when protons are knocked out from the p3/2 shell at very small pmiss. For the deuteron, the induced polarization is near zero at small |pmiss|, and its magnitude increases with |pmiss|. For both nuclei such behavior is reproduced qualitatively by theoretical results, driven largely by the spin-orbit part of the final-state interactions. However, for both nuclei, sizeable discrepancies exist between experiment and theory.
Chiral symmetry is one of the most fundamental symmetries in QCD. It is closely connected to hadron properties in the nuclear medium via the reduction of the quark condensate < q >, manifesting the ...partial restoration of chiral symmetry. To better understand this important issue, a number of Jefferson Lab experiments over the past decade have focused on understanding properties of mesons and nucleons in the nuclear medium, often benefiting from the high polarization and luminosity of the CEBAF accelerator. In particular, a novel, accurate, polarization transfer measurement technique revealed for the first time a strong indication that the bound proton electromagnetic form factors in 4He may be modified compared to those in the vacuum. Second, the photoproduction of vector mesons on various nuclei has been measured via their decay to e+ e− to study possible in-medium effects on the properties of the ρ meson. In this experiment, no significant mass shift and some broadening consistent with expected collisional broadening for the ρ meson has been observed, providing tight constraints on model calculations. Finally, processes involving in-medium parton propagation have been studied. The medium modifications of the quark fragmentation functions have been extracted with much higher statistical accuracy than previously possible.
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) enabled German participation in the joint space campaign on the unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft in November 2011. In this report, the effect of microgravity on ...Euglena gracilis cells is described. Custom‐made dual compartment cell fixation units (containing cells in one chamber and fixative – RNA lysis buffer – in another one) were enclosed in a small container and placed in the Simbox incubator, which is an experiment support system. Cells were fixed by injecting them with fixative at different time intervals. In addition to stationary experiment slots, Simbox provides a 1 g reference centrifuge. Cell fixation units were mounted in microgravity and 1 g reference positions of Simbox. Two Simbox incubators were used, one for space flight and the other as ground reference. Cells were fixed soon after launch and shortly before return of the spaceship. Due to technical problems, only early in‐flight samples (about 40 min after launch microgravity and corresponding 1 g reference) were fully mixed with fixative, therefore only data from those samples are presented. Transcription of several genes involved in signal transduction, oxidative stress defence, cell cycle regulation and heat shock responses was investigated with quantitative PCR. The data indicate that Euglena cells suffer stress upon short‐term exposure to microgravity; various stress‐induced genes were up‐regulated. Of 32 tested genes, 18 were up‐regulated, one down‐regulated and the rest remained unaltered. These findings are in a good agreement with results from other research groups using other organisms.
The unicellular freshwater flagellate
Euglena gracilis shows negative gravitactic behavior. Previous experiments have revealed that the orientation is most likely an active physiological process in ...which the beating pattern of the flagellum is controlled by gravity and mediated by a change in the calcium concentration inside the cell. In a signal transduction chain, the calcium signal activates a calmodulin, which in turn raises the concentration of cAMP. This alters the beating pattern of the flagellum; reorientation is therefore not a passive process driven by buoyancy. In a recent parabolic flight experiment (ESA 45th parabolic flight campaign), we observed the beating of the flagellum with a high-resolution light microscope. Transition from hyper
g to μ
g as well as from μ
g to hyper
g caused a change of the beating pattern of the flagellum, which confirmed the physiological nature of the process. In μ
g cells stopped moving the flagellum or tried to reorient, while in hyper
g, the cells realigned consecutively. The reaction times for the flagellar responses in previous experiments are confirmed.
The J-PARC E36 experiment will search for a violation of lepton universality by a precise measurement of the ratio of the kaon decay widths RK=Γ(K+→e+ν)/Γ(K+→μ+ν). Charged particles will be ...identified by the combination of three independent systems: a lead-glass Cherenkov counter, an aerogel Cherenkov counter, and a time-of-flight measurement. The performance of the lead-glass Cherenkov counter was investigated with e+, μ+, and π+ beams in the relevant momentum region from the K+ decays. By using a polyethylene degrader to slow down the beam momentum in front of the lead-glass block, we succeeded in reducing the muon mis-identification probability down to 5% while maintaining a high e+ detection efficiency of 98%.
The aim of this systematic review is to provide an overview of the use of Dynamic Contrast-enhanced Computed Tomography (DCE-CT) in patients with pancreatic cancer. This study was composed according ...to the PRISMA guidelines 2009. The literature search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases to identify all relevant publications. The QUADAS-2 tool was implemented to assess the risk of bias and applicability concerns of each included study. The initial literature search yielded 483 publications. Thirteen articles were included. Articles were categorized into three groups: nine articles concerning primary diagnosis or staging, one article about tumor response to treatment, and three articles regarding scan techniques. In exocrine pancreatic tumors, measurements of blood flow in eight studies and blood volume in seven studies were significantly lower in tumor tissue, compared with measurements in pancreatic tissue outside of tumor, or normal pancreatic tissue in control groups of healthy volunteers. The studies were heterogeneous in the number of patients enrolled and scan protocols. Perfusion parameters measured and analyzed by DCE-CT might be useful in the investigation of characteristic vascular patterns of exocrine pancreatic tumors. Further clinical studies are desired for investigating the potential of DCE-CT in pancreatic tumors.