The Heavy Flavor Averaging Group provides with this document input to the European Strategy for Particle Physics. Research in heavy-flavor physics is an essential component of the particle-physics ...program, both within and beyond the Standard Model. To fully realize the potential of the field, we believe the strategy should include strong support for the ongoing experimental and theoretical heavy-flavor research, future upgrades of existing facilities, and significant heavy-flavor capabilities at future colliders, including dedicated experiments.
A reservoir nasal cannula which stores oxygen during exhalation and delivers it as a bolus during inhalation has been reported to conserve oxygen delivery in patients with chronic obstructive ...pulmonary disease (COPD) at rest. We compared the effects upon arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) of the reservoir cannula and a standard nasal cannula in hypoxemic obstructed and restricted patients at rest and during exercise. The SaO2 was monitored by ear oximeter. While at rest, 13 obstructed and four restricted patients breathed oxygen from the reservoir cannula at 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 L/min and from a standard cannula at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 L/min. Mean SaO2 was significantly higher with the reservoir cannula compared to the standard cannula at 1.0 and 2.0 L/min (p<0.0006) and tended to be higher at 0.5 L/min (p<0.1). Seven obstructed patients walked on a level treadmill at 0.75 mph while breathing oxygen at 0.5 and 1.5 L/min from the reservoir cannula and at 1.0 and 3.0 L/min from the standard cannula. The SaO2 during exercise with the reservoir cannula was comparable to that with the standard cannula at approximately half of the oxygen flow rate. The ratio of the oxygen flow rate of the standard to the reservoir cannula to produce 90 percent saturation was estimated and found to be 2.5±0.8 (mean±SD) for patients at rest and 2.9±1.8 during exercise. We conclude that in hypoxemic patients at rest and during exercise, the reservoir cannula uses less than half the oxygen of a standard cannula to produce similar improvement in SaO2 and thus has advantages of a reduced cost of ambulatory therapy with low-flow oxygen and a longer time permitted away from a stationary source of oxygen.
This study characterizes inhibitory properties of an antiserum to an angiotensin-binding protein on vascular responses to angiotensin II. The antiserum was collected from guinea pigs that had been ...immunized with an angiotensin-binding protein that was isolated from a particulate fraction of rabbit liver. The bioassay system consisted of helically cut strips of rabbit renal artery suspended in organ chambers for measurement of isometric force development. After treatment with the antiserum (1:1,000-1:50 dilution), contractile responses to angiotensin II (10(-8) M) were reduced compared with those measured after treatment with nonimmune serum. At a dilution of 1:50, the magnitude of contractile responses to angiotensin II were approximately 40% of control values. This inhibitory action of the antiserum was similar to that induced by the angiotensin II antagonist, saralasin. Contractile responses to norepinephrine (5.9 x 10(-8) M) were not altered after incubation with the antiserum. These results indicate that the binding protein in hepatic cells may be similar in some respects to the membrane receptor mediating contractions to angiotensin II in rabbit renal arteries.
We report on new flavor tagging algorithms developed to determine the quark-flavor content of bottom (\(B\)) mesons at Belle II. The algorithms provide essential inputs for measurements of ...quark-flavor mixing and charge-parity violation. We validate and evaluate the performance of the algorithms using hadronic \(B\) decays with flavor-specific final states reconstructed in a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of \(62.8\) fb\(^{-1}\), collected at the \(\Upsilon\)(4\(S\)) resonance with the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB collider. We measure the total effective tagging efficiency to be \(\varepsilon_{\rm eff} = \big(30.0 \pm 1.2(\text{stat}) \pm 0.4(\text{syst})\big)\%\) for a category-based algorithm and \(\varepsilon_{\rm eff} = \big(28.8 \pm 1.2(\text{stat}) \pm 0.4(\text{syst})\big)\%\) for a deep-learning-based algorithm.
We present a measurement of the differential shapes of exclusive \(B\to D^* \ell \bar{\nu}_\ell\) (\(B = B^-, \bar{B}^0 \) and \(\ell = e, \mu\)) decays with hadronic tag-side reconstruction for the ...full Belle data set of \(711\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}\) integrated luminosity. We extract the Caprini-Lellouch-Neubert (CLN) and Boyd-Grinstein-Lebed (BGL) form factor parameters and use an external input for the absolute branching fractions to determine the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element and find \(|V_{cb}|_\mathrm{CLN} = (40.1\pm0.9)\times 10^{-3}\) and \(|V_{cb}|_\mathrm{BGL} = (40.6\pm 0.9)\times 10^{-3}\) with the zero-recoil lattice QCD point \(\mathcal{F}(1) = 0.906 \pm 0.013\). We also perform a study of the impact of preliminary beyond zero-recoil lattice QCD calculations on the \(|V_{cb}|\) determinations. Additionally, we present the lepton flavor universality ratio \(R_{e\mu} = \mathcal{B}(B \to D^* e \bar{\nu}_e) / \mathcal{B}(B \to D^* \mu \bar{\nu}_\mu) = 0.990 \pm 0.021 \pm 0.023\), the electron and muon forward-backward asymmetry and their difference \(\Delta A_{FB}=0.022\pm0.026\pm 0.007\), and the electron and muon \(D^*\) longitudinal polarization fraction and their difference \(\Delta F_L^{D^*} = 0.034 \pm 0.024 \pm 0.007\). The uncertainties quoted correspond to the statistical and systematic uncertainties, respectively.
To compare fertilization and pregnancy rates between cycles with polypronuclear fertilizations and cycles with normal fertilizations.
In vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) cycles in which ...oocytes were retrieved were divided into two groups according to the nature of fertilization.
All patients were participants of our IVF-ET program.
A significantly higher fertilization rate was found in the polypronuclear fertilization cycles (61% versus 36.6%) and also an improved pregnancy rate (47.5% versus 19.6%) and per embryo transfers (53% versus 28.8%). The vast majority of polypronuclear fertilizations occurred in mature oocytes.
We believe that the increased receptability of the oocytes improves fertilization and conception rates. The polypronuclear fertilization is an extreme expression of such improved receptibility and should be considered as an encouraging sign for conception.
Polymorphous ventricular tachycardia may occur in the setting of either a normal or a prolonged Q-T interval. Torsade de pointes is a form of polymorphous ventricular tachycardia in which the ...polarity of the QRS complex exhibits phasic alterations in both axis and rate. Traditionally, torsade de pointes has been described in association with a variety of congenital and acquired (including drug and metabolic) causes of Q-T prolongation. The distinction between torsade de pointes and those polymorphous ventricular tachycardias occurring in patients with a normal Q-T interval has important therapeutic implications. The former requires strict avoidance of all drugs that may potentially further delay repolarization, including class I antiarrhythmic agents; immediately, the initiation of cardiac pacing is often necessary for control of arrhythmia, and on a long-term basis, sympathetic nervous blockade is often efficacious. In contrast, the polymorphous ventricular tachycardias with a normal Q-T interval usually respond to conventional therapy, including administration of class I antiarrhythmic agents. Thus, the management of polymorphous ventricular tachycardia should be based on the presence of absence of associated repolarization rather than on the morphologic features of the tachycardia. Unfortunately, recent advances in basic and clinical electrophysiology have not yet elucidated the pathophysiologic basis for these arrhythmias, although this is an area of active investigative interest.
Varicocele of spermatic veins is considered to be one of the major causes of male infertility associated with reduction of sperm quality. The pathophysiology of this condition is not yet completely ...understood. The aim of this study was to shed light on the pathophysiology of varicocele by identifying semen parameters, especially sperm ultramorphology, which improve following high ligation of the spermatic vein. Seventy‐five males with diagnosed varicocele were included in this study. Semen parameters were assessed prospectively using light microscopy, semen biochemistry and sperm quantitative ultramorphological analysis, before high ligation and 3–9 months after high ligation. The control group consisted of twenty‐five untreated varicocele patients who underwent two semen examinations within 3–9 months. No statistical difference in any of the examined variables was found between the two examinations in the control group. The treated patients exhibited a significant improvement in sperm density, progressive motility, percentage of normally formed spermatozoa, agenesis of sperm acrosome, chromatin condensation and incidence of amorphous heads compared with the pretreatment condition (P≤0.01). In contradiction, no significant improvement was observed following treatment in any of the sperm tail subcellular organelles. It is concluded that varicocele may cause deleterious alterations in early spermatid head differentiation during spermiogenesis and that varicocele patients with a high incidence of sperm acrosome and nucleus malformations are appropriate candidates for varicocele correction.
Two independent mutants of Escherichia coli deficient in dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase activity (Dcp-) were isolated after mutagenesis with ethyl methanesulfonate. Mating experiments and introduction ...of specific episomes indicated that the responsible gene was located at approximately 27-31 min on the E. coli chromosome. The Dcp- mutants differed from the parental strain in their inability to grow with N-acetylalanylalanylalanine as the sole nitrogen source. Revertants selected for growth on this substrate of the enzyme were found to have reacquired the activity. Enzyme activity was highly sensitive to inhibition by 1-(D-3-mercapto-2-methylpropanoyl)-L-proline (SQ 14225), a potent inhibitor of mammalian dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase (angiotensin-converting enzyme, peptidyl dipeptidase, EC 3.4.15.1). This compound also reduced the rate of growth of the wild type with N-acetylalanylalanylalanine but not with ammonium sulfate. A fraction of the enzyme was released into the medium by osmotic shock, indicating that its presence in the periplasmic space may account for growth with N-acetylated peptides that cannot be taken up by E. coli. In addition to providing information about the specific role of this exopeptidase in E. coli, the Dcp- mutants may prove useful for delineating the regulation and cellular function of dipeptidyl carboxypeptidases in higher organisms.
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