We report the first evidence for isospin violation in B→K^{*}γ and the first measurement of the difference of CP asymmetries between B^{+}→K^{*+}γ and B^{0}→K^{*0}γ. This analysis is based on the ...data sample containing 772×10^{6}BBover ¯ pairs that was collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB energy-asymmetric e^{+}e^{-} collider. We find evidence for the isospin violation with a significance of 3.1σ, Δ_{0+}=+6.2±1.5(stat)±0.6(syst)±1.2(f_{+-}/f_{00})%, where the third uncertainty is due to the uncertainty on the fraction of B^{+}B^{-} to B^{0}Bover ¯^{0} production in ϒ(4S) decays. The measured value is consistent with predictions of the standard model. The result for the difference of CP asymmetries is ΔA_{CP}=+2.4±2.8(stat)±0.5(syst)%, consistent with zero. The measured branching fractions and CP asymmetries for charged and neutral B meson decays are the most precise to date. We also calculate the ratio of branching fractions of B^{0}→K^{*0}γ to B_{s}^{0}→ϕγ.
Background
Although the exact mechanism of TENS pain relief is unknown, it is believed that TENS impulses interrupt nociceptive signals at the dorsal horn of the spinal cord.
Aims
To evaluate the ...hypotheses that during pain caused by noxious stimuli, brain responses, temporal summation and brain functional connectivity are modulated by TENS, and that mechanisms of pain relief by TENS differ between men and women.
Methods
During fMRI scanning, the same noxious stimuli were delivered to each participant in pain‐only and pain+TENS conditions. In the pain‐only condition, noxious stimuli were presented without TENS. In the pain+TENS condition, participants received noxious stimuli and TENS concurrently. Participants were initially presented with TENS at an intensity that was just below that causing discomfort. TENS intensity was presented in a step‐wise fashion to prevent temporal summation from repetitive noxious stimuli.
Results
Pain and unpleasantness ratings were significantly higher in the pain‐only than the pain+TENS condition. With non‐painful TENS, primary and secondary somatosensory and parietal cortices were activated, and temporal summation from repetitive noxious stimuli was prevented. Periaqueductal gray (PAG) and lateral prefrontal cortex functional connectivity was increased by TENS, and modulated by testosterone and cortisol. Women reported greater pain during TENS than men, and showed greater activation in the temporoparietal junction cortex and increased PAG functional connectivity with the orbitofrontal cortex.
Conclusion
TENS led to pain reduction, probably due to activation of the descending pain‐inhibitory pathway, indicating that this TENS method may be applied in clinical practice.
To assess the applicability of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus criteria (NCC) for chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), 211 patients who developed GVHD more than 100 days after ...allogeneic transplantation were reclassified using NCC. Classifications were: late acute GVHD (44 patients, 21%), overlap syndrome (64 patients, 30%) and classic cGVHD (103 patients, 49%). Classic cGVHD and overlap syndrome patients (n=167) were graded using both the revised Seattle criteria (RSC) and NIH global scoring (NGS). Twenty-three patients (14%) had mild, 81 (48%) had moderate and 63 (38%) had severe cGVHD. After a median follow-up of 46 months (range 5-71 months), the 4-year GVHD-specific survival was not significantly different among the different subtypes of NCC. Among patients with late acute GVHD, however, the pattern of acute GVHD onset (late, persistent or recurrent) was significantly different with respect to GVHD-specific survival. Among patients with overlap syndrome and classic cGVHD, multivariate analysis showed that NGS as well as RSC were useful in predicting survival and discontinuation of immunosuppressive therapy despite of more detailed grouping. Our study indicates that NCC is applicable. The clinical impact of NIH types and NGS should be verified through prospective studies.
Among the nosocomial pathogens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is recognized as a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Data on 136 patients with P. aeruginosa bacteremia were retrospectively analyzed to ...evaluate risk factors for mortality. The median age of the patients was 55 years (range, 15-85 years), 78.7% of the cases were hospital-acquired, and the 30-day mortality rate was 39% (53 of 136 patients). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that risk factors for mortality included severe sepsis, pneumonia, delay in starting effective antimicrobial therapy, and an increasing APACHE II score (all P values <.05). In 123 of the 136 patients (excluding 13 patients treated with inadequate definitive antibiotics), 30-day mortality was 27.7% (13 of 47 patients) in the group of patients who received initially effective empirical antimicrobial therapy, and 43.4% (33 of 76) in the group of patients who received delayed effective antimicrobial therapy (P = .079). There was a trend toward higher mortality as the length of delay increased. Delay in starting effective antimicrobial therapy for P. aeruginosa bacteremia tended to be associated with higher mortality.
Abstract We report the identification of metastable isomeric states of $$^{228}$$ 228 Ac at 6.28 keV, 6.67 keV and 20.19 keV, with lifetimes of an order of 100 ns. These states are produced by the ...$$\beta $$ β -decay of $$^{228}$$ 228 Ra, a component of the $$^{232}$$ 232 Th decay chain, with $$\beta $$ β Q-values of 39.52 keV, 39.13 keV and 25.61 keV, respectively. Due to the low Q-value of $$^{228}$$ 228 Ra as well as the relative abundance of $$^{232}$$ 232 Th and their progeny in low background experiments, these observations potentially impact the low-energy background modeling of dark matter search experiments.
In order to provide stimuli-responsive properties under magnetic- and electric-forces enabling reflective color-changes in a liquid medium, the surface of silica coated-iron oxide core-shell ...nanoparticles (Fe
3
O
4
@SiO
2
) is successfully modified with two-different types of silane coupling agents to improve the dispersion stability as well as the color change strength as a result of the effectively increased repulsion. A stimuli-responsive magneto- and electro-chromatic ink is prepared by mixing hydrophobic surface modified Fe
3
O
4
@SiO
2
-F
x
(
x
= 0 and 13) core-shell nanoparticles and a dispersing agent in a low dielectric medium (LDM). The magneto-chromatic and electro-chromatic stimuli-responsive properties are visually confirmed. Moreover, the optical reflective color spectra and color gamut calculated from the CIE chromaticity coordinates of the hydrophobic surface modified Fe
3
O
4
@SiO
2
-F13 core-shell nanoparticles (with "F moiety" in the molecular structure) under an applied voltage range of 0 V to 10 V show that the hydrophobic surface modified magnetite nanoparticles are promising candidates for reflective display applications.
Magneto-/electro-chromatic reflective color tunability is confirmed using hydrophobic surface modified magnetite nanoparticles. The optical reflective color spectra and color gamut demonstrate the promising applications in reflective displays.
The authors demonstrate integrated 1D optical phased arrays (OPAs) for wide-angle 2D beam-steering. The 2D OPA consists of 16 1D transversal steering OPAs whose radiators have different grating ...periods, to assign different longitudinal angles. The transversal steering of each OPA is performed by the phase control of the p-i-n electro-optic phase shifter array. The 1D transversal steering OPAs operate serially, changing the longitudinal radiation angle. The grating radiators were designed with an array pitch of 2 μm, and a varying period in the range of 610–710 nm. The entire 16 × (1 × 16) OPAs were integrated into a small area of 26.5 mm2. The obtained transversal/longitudinal beam-steering range was 46°/44°, respectively, with a wavelength of 1560 nm, which enables wide 2D beam-steering.
Sohn YB, Ki C‐S, Kim C‐H, Ko A‐R, Yook Y‐J, Lee S‐J, Kim SJ, Park SW, Yeau S, Kwon E‐K, Han SJ, Choi EW, Lee S‐Y, Kim J‐W, Jin D‐K. Identification of 11 novel mutations in 49 Korean patients with ...mucopolysaccharidosis type II.
Mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II) or Hunter syndrome is a rare lysosomal storage disorder caused by a deficiency of iduronate‐2‐sulfatase (IDS). As MPS II is X‐linked, patients are usually males with heterogeneous mutations ranging from point mutations to gross deletions and recombination. In 2003, we reported a mutation analysis of 25 patients with MPS II. In this study, 31 mutations in another 49 Korean patients (45 families) with MPS II are reported: 12 missense, nine deletions, four splicing, two nonsense, two insertions, one deletion/insertion, and IDS‐IDS2 recombination mutations. Among these mutations, 11 were novel ones (4 missense mutations: Ser61Pro, Pro97Arg, Pro228Ala, and Pro261Ala; 5 deletions: c.344delA, c.420delG, c.768delT, c.1112delC and c.1402delC; 1 deletion/insertion: c.1222delinsTA; and 1 insertion mutation: c.359_360insATCC). The IDS‐IDS2 recombination mutations were most frequently observed; all patients with this mutation had the severe MPS II phenotype. However, most of the patients (5/7) with the G374G splicing mutation had an attenuated phenotype, except for two sibling cases with the severe phenotype. Except for a few recurrent mutations such as the G374G, R443X, L522P, and recombination mutations, each patient had a unique individual mutation. Therefore, careful interpretation of genotype–phenotype correlations is warranted.
The main goals of the Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP) experiment are to observe hidden particles and to run a high-statistics study of tau neutrino events. Two different types of resistive plate ...chambers (RPCs) will be used in the future SHiP experiment: one for triggers to select the decayed muons emitted via tau neutrino interactions and one for precision time measurements of charged particles, which are expected from the decays of hidden particles. In the present research, we constructed and tested a prototype RPC module to study the fundamental detector performance of the muon trigger RPCs in the tau neutrino detector of the SHiP experiment. The required detector characteristics, such as the intrinsic noise rate, the time response, and the spatial resolution, were proven through the test of the present prototype detector with cosmic muons.
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