bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Critical analysis of recent results on electron and positron elastic scattering on proton
Authors: Tomasi-Gustafsson Egle , Bytev Vladimir
Published: April 2019

Recent data on the cross section ratio for electron and positron elastic scattering on protons are discussed. A deviation from unity of this ratio constitutes a model independent signature of charge-odd contributions that arise from mechanisms beyond the one-photon approximation, as the exchange of two photons. The relevance of this issue is related to that fact that the information on the proton structure from lepton elastic (and inelastic) scattering holds only within a formalism based on the one photon exchange approximation. The present analysis shows that the deviations of the data from unity and from a previously developed theoretical approach lie within the theoretical and experimental errors. The data suggest that other reasons for explanation of the discrepancy between the electromagnetic proton form factors extracted from the experiments according to the polarized and the unpolarized methods are more likely.
Recent results from PHENIX at RHIC
Authors: Riabov Victor
Published: April 2019

The PHENIX experiment at the relativistic heavy ion collider (RHIC) finished data taking in 2016. However, large datasets collected in different collision systems (p+p, p+A and A+A) at different energies (√sNN = 19-500 GeV) during the last years of the detector operation are actively analysed by the collaboration and bring a wealth of new experimental results. This paper reviews the most recent PHENIX results on the light flavour hadron production, yields and angular correlations of the direct photons in heavy-ion collisions as well as on the search for the onset of collectivity in high multiplicity p+p and p+A collisions.
Dense cold matter
Authors: Stavinskiy Alexey
Published: April 2019

Opportunities to study unexplored domains of nuclear matter phase diagram with BM@N and SPD-NICA is discussed. Since the optimal initial energy range depends on the phase diagram domain, the subject and experimental methods for its study have a lot of opportunities both for the fixed target and collider experiments. Fixed target experiments provide an access to the laboratory study of nuclear matter with the unprecedented density as high as the one for the neutron star core and even larger. A specialised kinematic trigger for relativistic ion-ion collisions can be used for this study. On the other hand, the NICA collider energy range will provide unique opportunities to study interactions between multi-quark states. The article discusses the importance of experimental study of the diquark component of nuclear structure function and diquark-diquark interactions. It is important to develop neutron identification methods both for the fixed target and collider experiments.
Physics architecture. Part two
Authors: Konopleva Nelly
Published: April 2019

Physics architecture. Part two.

The talk is devoted to the jubilee of academician M.A. Markov, who was born in 1908. Now we have also the 100th anniversary of the gauge invariance principle proposed by Weyl in 1918. During the period from 1967 to 1988 M.A. Markov was Academician Secretary of Nuclear Physics Department of AN USSR. He organized the series of conferences dedicated to the topical problems of theoretical, nuclear and elementary particle physics. One of them was international seminar “Vector mesons and electromagnetic interactions” under A.M. Baldin direct leadership. It went off in JINR in September of 1969. This very that seminar gave birth to the conferences series named “Baldin autumn”. Thanks to the discussions at the A.M. Baldin seminar many critical situations in theoretical and experimental physics were subsequently settled.

The first plenary session of the seminar included L.D. Faddeev talk about gauge field quantization, which cleared the way to develop the renormalized quantum gauge field theory. My talk was dedicated to the transformation of the classical gauge field theory into geometrical one. As a result the unified geometrical theory was obtained, which could include any interactions together with Einsteinian gravity. In this connection both formulations of Weyl’s local gauge invariance principle (of 1918 and 1929) as well as Einsteinian principle of general relativity were used. This approach was based on the fibre bundle geometry, which was developed by mathematicians at that time. This theory gives a realizable classification of interactions according to the local Lie’s symmetry groups associated with them. This approach leads to the VIth Hilbert’s problem solution.

To obtain further development of the gauge field theory, it is necessary to decide the question of the gauge field mass origin. It is the key moment both in quantum and geometrical classical theories of the gauge fields. Therefore it is very important to analyze the experiments, where massive and massless particles are converted in each other (similar Baldin experiments in JINR in 1967).
How to measure the linear polarization of gluons in unpolarized proton using the heavy-quark pair production
Authors: Ivanov N. Ya. , Efremov A. V. , Teryaev O. V.
Published: April 2019

In recent papers [1, 2], two new ways have been proposed to probe the linear polarization of gluons in unpolarized proton: using the azimuthal asymmetries and Callan-Gross ratio in heavy-quark pair leptoproduction, lN → l′QQ̅X. In this talk, we discuss in details the sensitivity of the QCD predictions for the azimuthal cos φ and cos 2φ asymmetries to the contribution of linearly polarized gluons inside unpolarized proton, where the azimuth φ is the angle between the lepton scattering plane (l, l′) and the heavy quark production plane (N, Q). Our analysis shows that the azimuthal distributions under consideration vary from 0 to 1 depending on the value of the gluonic counterpart of the Boer- Mulders function, $h_{1}^{ \bot g}$. We conclude that the cos φ and cos 2φ asymmetries in heavy-quark pair production in DIS processes are predicted to be large in wide kinematic ranges and sensitive to the contribution of linearly polarized gluons.
Ternary SU(3)-group symmetry and its possible applications in hadron-quark substructure. Towards a new spinor-fermion structure
Authors: Maslikov Alexander , Volkov Guennady
Published: April 2019

The questions on the existence of the three color quark symmetry and three quark-lepton generations could have the origin associated with the new exotic symmetries outside the Cartan-Killing-Lie algebras/groups. Our long-term search for these symmetries has been began with our Calabi-Yau space classification on the basis of the n-ary algebra for the reflexive projective numbers and led us to the expansion of the binary n = 2 complex and hyper complex numbers in the framework of the n-ary complex and hyper-complex numbers with n = 3, 4, … where we constructed new Abelian and non-Abelian symmetries. We have studied then norm-division properties of the Abelian nary complex numbers and have built the infinite chain of the Abelian groups U(n–1) = [U(1) × … × U(1)](n–1). We have developed the n-ary holomorphic (polymorphic) analysis on the n-ary complex space NC{n}, which led us to the generalization of the quadratic Laplace equations for the harmonic functions. The generalized Laplace equations for the n-ary harmonic functions give us the n-th order homogeneous differential equations which are invariant with respect to the Abelian n-ary groups U(n–1) and with some new spatial properties. Further consideration of the non-Abelian n-ary hyper-complex numbers opens the infinite series of the non-Abelian TnSU(n)-Lie groups(n=3,4,…) and its corresponding tnsu(n) algebras. One of the exceptional features of these symmetry groups is the appearance of some new n-dimensional spinors that could lead to an extension of the concept of the SU(2)-spin, to the appearance of n-dimensional quantum structures -exotic “n-spinor” matter(n = 3, 4, … - maarcrions). It is natural to assume that these new exotic “quantum spinor states” could be candidates for the pra-matter of the quark-charge leptons or/and for the dark matter. We will be also interested in the detection of the exotic quantum ’n-spinor” matter in the neutrino and hadron experiments.
Structure of the Majorana’s equation and its physical interpretation
Authors: Kosmachev O.S.
Published: April 2019

It is generally believed that Majorana’s paper [4] describes particles which have no antiparticles. A thorough analysis have shown that this paper gives rise to the questions the answers to which have not been realized up to now. By the Majorana equation we mean the equation that describes stable, massive, and neutral leptons. Fulfillment of these three requirements leads strictly and unambiguously to the conclusion that the Majorana equation describes a pair of stable, massive, and neutral leptons, a particle and an antiparticle. This is similar to the Dirac equation, but the spin properties of the leptons of this type differ from the spin properties of the electron or positron.
Possible signals of two QCD phase transitions at NICA-FAIR energies
Authors: Bugaev K. A. , Ivanytskyi A. I. , Sagun V. V. , Grinyuk B. E. , Savchenko D. O. , Zinovjev G. M. , Nikonov E. G. , Bravina L. V. , Zabrodin E. E. , Blaschke D. B. , Kabana S. , Taranenko A. V.
Published: April 2019

The chemical freeze-out irregularities found with the most advanced hadron resonance gas model and possible signals of two QCD phase transitions are discussed. We have found that the center-of-mass collision energy range of tricritical endpoint of QCD phase diagram is [9; 9.2] GeV which is consistent both with the QCD inspired exactly solvable model and experimental findings.
Splitting of fragmentation peaks of light ions in 56Fe + 9Be collisions at 0.23 GeV/nucleon
Authors: Abramov B.M. , Baznat M. , Borodin Yu.A. , Bulychjov S.A. , Dukhovskoy I.A. , Krutenkova A.P. , Kulikov V.V. , Martemianov M.A. , Matsyuk M.A. , Turdakina E.N.
Published: April 2019

The FRAGM experiment at the ITEP-TWA heavy ion facility has a unique opportunity of measuring the momentum distributions of nuclear fragments. We present the results of 56Fe fragmentation into light ions on 9Be target at 0.23 GeV/nucleon. The momentum spectra of projectile like fragments were measured with a high resolution beam line spectrometer. In contrast to the carbon fragmentation, where the momentum spectra have Gaussian-like shapes, in the emission of the light fragments the shapes have a double-humped structure. This splitting is most pronounced in proton spectra. The possibility of describing this effect by asymmetric fission and multifragmentation is discussed. A comparison is made with the results of the FRS measurements at GSI. The obtained experimental data are in a reasonable agreement with the predictions of several transport codes such as BC, INCL and LAQGSM.
Estimation of pion-emitting source in symmetric and asymmetric collisions using the UrQMD model
Authors: Khyzhniak Eugenia , Semenova Varvara , Ermakov Nikita , Nigmatkulov Grigory
Published: April 2019

The femtoscopy technique allows one to measure spatial and temporal characteristics of the particle-emitting source produced in high-energy collisions. In non-central ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions the emission source can be tilted in the reaction plane. In the current analysis, the orientation of freeze-out distributions with respect to the first-order event plane in symmetric (Au+Au) and asymmetric (Cu+Au) collisions at $$\sqrt {{s_{NN}}} = 200$$ GeV was studied using the UrQMD model to extract information about the emission source tilt. The effect of the initial geometry on the femtoscopic radii of small systems was measured at the same number of charged particles and transverse momentum was studied in d+Au and 3He+Au collisions at $$\sqrt {{s_{NN}}} = 200$$ GeV. The implications of the results are discussed.
Beam and target optimization for energy production in accelerator driven systems
Authors: Paraipan Mihaela , Baldin Anton A. , Baldina Elina G. , Tyutyunikov Serguey I.
Published: April 2019

The new concept of light nuclear beams instead of proton beams for ADS is substantiated. The influence of the target structure on the energy efficiency of 0.5-4 GeV proton beams and 0.25 – 0.5 AGeV light ion beams is studied. The target consists of rods with different composition (metal, oxide, carbide) and different levels of enrichment in order to implement the target with a criticality coefficient of 0.96 -0.97, which ensures safe operation. The cooling with different metals (lead, lead-bismuth eutectic - LBE, and sodium) is compared. The use of converters from very light materials (lithium, beryllium, carbon) and their influence on the neutron spectrum and energy released are analysed.
Np-237 transmutation efficiency dependence on beam particle, energy and sample position in QUINTA setup
Authors: Kilim S. , Strugalska-Gola E. , Szuta M. , Bielewicz M. , Tyutyunnikov S. , Adam J. , Stegailov V.I.
Published: April 2019

Np-237 samples were irradiated with spallation neutrons produced at the ADS setup QUINTA. Six experiments were carried out at the JINR, in Dubna – one in carbon (C6+), three in deuteron, and two in proton beams. The energy in carbon was 24 GeV, in deuteron – 2, 4 and 8 GeV, respectively, and 660 MeV in the proton beam. In five cases the sample was located in a side window in a lead shield. In one case (660 MeV proton beam) two samples were located on the top of the QUINTA setup, one – on the top of section 2, and the second one – on the top of section 4. The transmutation study method was based on gamma-ray spectrometry. During the analysis of the spectra several fission products and one actinide were identified. Fission product activities yielded the number of fissions. The actinide (Np-238), a result of neutron capture by Np-237, yielded the number of captures.

The main goal of this work was to find out if and how the transmutation rate depended on the accelerator beam and sample location during the irradiation.
FCC-ee and the CR effects
Authors: Pukhaeva Nelli
Published: April 2019

The proposed new FCC-ee e+e– colliders will be hosted in the Geneva area as the new 100 km tunnel will allow producing collisions at centre-of-mass energies from 90 to 350 GeV and beyond at several interaction points and will be used for a precision measurement at the Z pole, WW threshold, HZ cross section maximum and tt̅ threshold with an unequaled accuracy.

New measurements, which will be realized with large amount of data and at high energies accessible at the FCC-ee would allow a detailed study of the Color Reconnection phenomenon, especially in the hadronic WW decays, and would be helpful for other studies, for example in search for these effects in tt̅ and in Higgs decays.
Fractality in hadron interactions: a conservation law and quantization of fractal dimensions
Authors: Zborovský Imrich
Published: April 2019

A microscopic scenario of constituent interactions in high energy collisions of hadrons and nuclei is studied. The concept is based on the z-scaling of inclusive spectra observed in a wide range of collision energies, multiplicity densities, momenta, and angles of detected particles. We bring arguments that, due to the fractality and self-similarity of the hadron interactions assumed in the z-scaling scheme, there exists a conservation law of a new quantity named “fractal cumulativity.” The conserved quantity is proportional to the corresponding fractal dimensions and is a simple function of the respective momentum fractions. Based on statistical ideas and entropy considerations we demonstrate that the fractal dimensions possess quantum character.
Closed system of equations for description of the e+e– γ plasma generated from vacuum by strong electric field
Authors: Smolyansky S.A. , Fedotov A.M. , Panferov A.D. , Pirogov S.O.
Published: April 2019

We develop a self-consistent kinetic description of a e+e– γ plasma, generated from vacuum in a focal spot of counterpropagating laser pulses. Our model assumes purely time-dependent external (laser) field, but properly takes into account the semiclassical internal (plasma) field, as well as quantum radiation. While nonperturbative kinetic description of e+e–-pair production from vacuum and the simplest variant of backreaction problem have been previously addressed, quantum radiation is included in such a model for the first time. To achieve this goal we derived coupled kinetic equations for the electron, positron, and photon plasma species and the Maxwell equation for the internal electric field. Photon subsystem is included systematically using the BBGKY chain, which we truncate at the second order of perturbation theory by taking into account the annihilation and radiation channels. An important application of our results would be consideration of laser field depletion due to cascade production beyond the locally constant field approximation.
Effects of the detector non-uniformity in pion directed flow measurement relative to the spectator plane by the NA49 experiment at the CERN SPS
Authors: Golosov Oleg , Kashirin Evgeny , Klochkov Viktor , Selyuzhenkov Ilya
Published: April 2019

Results are presented for directed flow υ1 of negatively charged pions measured relative to the spectator plane in Pb+Pb collisions at the beam energy 40A GeV recorded by the NA49 experiment at CERN. The measurements were performed as a function of rapidity and transverse momentum in two classes of collision centrality. The projectile spectator symmetry plane is estimated using the transverse segmentation of the forward hadron calorimeters. Analysis details related to event selection and particle identification are provided along with a description of the procedure used to apply corrections for the limited detection efficiency. Additionally a systematic study of effects due to detector non-uniformity on pion directed flow measurement is presented.
Phase transitions in the extended particle systems, Hagedorn temperature and fractal dimension of space, as a confinement phase transition order parameter
Authors: Makhaldiani Nugzar
Published: April 2019

We consider a formal definition of New physics, fundamental constants of physics, formulation of the quantum statistical theory including extra integrals, monopole mechanism for hadronization in QCD, finite approximation of the zeta-function and fermion factorization of the bosonic statistical sum.
A track finding algorithm for the inner tracking system of MPD/NICA
Authors: Zinchenko Dmitry , Nikonov Eduard , Zinchenko Alexander
Published: April 2019

An inner tracking system (ITS) based on silicon pixel sensors is currently considered as one of the possible MPD upgrade steps. The main purpose of the new detector is to provide a better precision of the primary and secondary vertex reconstruction and improve track reconstruction in MPD in the region close to the interaction point. To study the ITS performance a new track finding algorithm was developed, which better takes into account the new system’s advantages. In this paper the new algorithm is described and first results obtained on simulated data are presented.
New forward hadron calorimeter for centrality and reaction plane determination at BM@N heavy ion experiments
Authors: Guber F. , Borisenko D. , Finogeev D. , Golubeva M. , Ivashkin A. , Karpushkin N. , Morozov S. , Senger A.
Published: April 2019

It is proposed to replace existing Zero Degree Calorimeter of the BM@N setup at the Nuclotron (JINR) by a new forward hadron calorimeter for the measurement of the collision centrality and reaction plane orientation in heavy ions experiments. This calorimeter with transverse and longitudinal segmentation will be assembled from modules presently constructed for FHCal MPD and PSD CBM. The proposed design of the new calorimeter, simulation results for centrality and reaction plane determination by the new calorimeter, as well as radiation doses in the calorimeter simulated by FLUKA are discussed. The performance of hadron calorimeter supermodule studied at CERN is shown.
Performance studies of anisotropic flow with MPD at NICA
Authors: Parfenov Petr , Taranenko Arkadiy , Selyuzhenkov Ilya , Senger Peter
Published: April 2019

The Multi-Purpose Detector (MPD) at NICA collider has a substantial discovery potential concerning the exploration of the QCD phase diagram in the region of high net-baryon densities and moderate temperatures. The anisotropic transverse flow is one of the key observables to study the properties of dense matter created in heavy-ion collisions. The MPD performance for anisotropic flow measurements is studied with Monte-Carlo simulations of gold ions at NICA energies $\sqrt {{S_{NN}}} = 4 - 11\,{\rm{GeV}}$ using different heavy-ion event generators. Different combinations of the MPD detector subsystems are used to investigate the possible systematic biases in flow measurements, and to study effects of detector azimuthal non-uniformity. The resulting performance of the MPD for flow measurements is demonstrated for directed and elliptic flow of identified charged hadrons as a function of rapidity and transverse momentum in different centrality classes.
Bs → K*0 decay form factors from covariant confined quark model
Authors: Issadykov Aidos
Published: April 2019

We evaluate Bs → K*0 transition form factors in the full kinematical region within the covariant confined quark model. The calculated form factors can be used to calculate the Bs → K*0 μ+μ– rare decay branching ratio, which was recently measured by LHCb collaboration.
Pseudo-scalar mesons at finite temperatures from a Dyson-Schwinger-Bethe-Salpeter approach
Authors: Dorkin Sergey , Kaptari Leonid , Kämpfer Burkhard
Published: April 2019

The truncated Dyson-Schwinger–Bethe-Salpeter equations are employed at non-zero temperature. The truncations refer to a rainbow-ladder approximation augmented with an interaction kernel which facilitates a special temperature dependence. At low temperatures,T →0, we recover a quark propagator from the Dyson-Schwinger (gap) equation smoothly interpolating to theT= 0 results. Utilizing that quark propagator we evaluate the Bethe-Salpeter vertex function in the pseudo-scalarqq̅channel for the lowest boson Matsubara frequencies and find a competition ofqq̅bound states and quasi-free two-quark states atT=O(100 MeV).
Study of exotic mesons in pp and AA collisions
Authors: Barabanov Mikhail , Vodopyanov Alexander
Published: April 2019

The possibility of study of exotic mesons is discussed. The paper includes detailed analysis of strong, weak and electromagnetic decays containing charmed quark-antiquark pair, physics simulation and event reconstruction at NICA.
Off-shell initial state effects in Drell-Yan process at hadron colliders
Authors: Nefedov Maxim , Saleev Vladimir
Published: April 2019

We discuss production of Drell-Yan lepton pairs at hadron colliders in the framework of the parton Reggeization approach, which includes off-shell initial state effects in a gauge-invariant way. We have compared our numerical results forqT-spectra of the lepton pair with the experimental data, obtained by E-288 collaboration ($\rad{}{S} = 19.4$ and 23.8 GeV) and found a good agreement. We have also made predictions for the Drell-Yan structure functions at NICApp-collider ($\rad{}{S} = 24\,{\rm{GeV}}$).
The differential cross section for dp-elastic scattering at 500-900 MeV/n and large transverse momenta
Authors: Terekhin Arkady , Ladygin Vladimir , Gurchin Yury , Isupov Alexander , Janek Marian , Khrenov Anatoliy , Kurilkin Alexei , Kurilkin Pavel , Ladygina Nadezhda , Piyadin Semeon , Reznikov Sergey
Published: April 2019

The results of the differential cross section of elastic dp-scattering measurements at 500, 750 and 900 MeV/n, performed at the Internal Target Station at the JINR Nuclotron are presented. The angular dependence is compared with the world experimental data at close energies as well as with the theoretical calculations performed within the framework of the relativistic multiple scattering theory. The differential cross section at fixed scattering angles covered a total c.m. energy range $\rad{}{s} = 3.1 - 3.42\,{\rm{GeV}}$ were obtained. The results are compared with the behavior of the world data.
Deuteron breakup at zero angle in the Coulomb nuclear field
Authors: Sitnik Igor
Published: April 2019

Deuteron breakup cross sections on the C and CH2 targets have been measured up to the proton internal momenta of 0.3 GeV/c. The cross-sections 12C(d, p)X and 1H(d, p)X reactions have been obtained with high precision. The obtained data are compared with previous measurements.

The behavior features in the vicinity of the cross section maximum were studied in dependence on the transversal momentum in the region of 0.01 < pt < 0.16 GeV/c.

The measurements have been performed at the Veksler Baldin Laboratory of High Energy Physics of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.
Flow Distribution Characteristics of Supercritical Hydrocarbon Fuel in Parallel Channels with Pyrolysis
Authors: Jing Tingting , He Guoqiang , Qin Fei , Li Wenqiang , Zhang Duo , Wang Minghao
Published: April 2019

Due to the asymmetric geometry of flowpath and combustion organization, the heat flux distribution on RBCC's walls are extremely non-uniform. With a validated numerical model considering the changes of thermophysical properties and chemical components, the present study analyzed the effects of heat flux intensity, non-uniformity of heat flux distribution and inlet manifold on the mass flow distribution of parallel regenerative cooling channels. Results show that the intensity of heat flux enlarges the non-uniformity of parallel channels, however, the non-uniformity is reduced when the outlet temperature is above the completely pyrolysis value; and the non-uniformity heat flux distribution increases the mal-distribution of parallel channels dramatically, the difference of mass flow rate reaches to 33.2% when the heat flux difference is only 0.25 MW/m2; increasing the flow area of inlet manifold would improve the flow distribution of parallel channels with decrease of heat transfer efficiency and increases of pressure drop.
A 3D Tracking and Registration Method Based on Point Cloud and Visual Features for Augmented Reality Aided Assembly System
Authors: Wang Yue , Zhang Shusheng , Bai Xiaoliang
Published: April 2019

To improve the robustness and applicability of 3D tracking and registration for augmented reality(AR) aided mechanical assembly system, a 3D registration and tracking method based on the point cloud and visual features is proposed. Firstly, the reference model point cloud is used to definite absolute tracking coordinate system, thus the locating datum of the virtual assembly guidance information is determined. Then by adding visual features matching to the iterative closest points (ICP) registration process, the robustness of tracking and registration is improved. In order to obtain sufficient number of visual feature matching points in this process, a visual feature matching strategy based on orientation vector consistency is proposed. Finally, the loop closure detection and global pose optimization from key frames are added in the tracking registration process. The experimental result shows that the proposed method has good real-time performance and accuracy, and the running speed can reach 30 frames per second. Moreover, it also shows good robustness when the camera is moving fast and the depth information is inaccurate, and the comprehensive performance of the proposed method is better than the KinectFusion method.
Effectiveness of digital feedback on patient experience and 30-day complications after screening colonoscopy: a randomized health services study
Authors: Bugajski M. , Wieszczy P. , Pisera M. , Rupinski M. , Hoff G. , Huppertz-Hauss G. , Regula J. , Bretthauer M. , Kaminski M.
Published: April 2019

Background and study aims European guidelines (ESGE) recommend measuring patient experience and 30-day complication rate after colonoscopy. We compared digital and paper-based feedback on patients’ experience and 30-day complications after screening colonoscopy.

Patients and methods Screenees attending for primary screening colonoscopies in two centers from September 2015 to December 2016 were randomized (1:1) to an intervention arm (choice of feedback method) or control arm (routine paper-based feedback). Participants in the intervention arm could choose preferred feedback method (paper-based, automated telephone or online survey) and were contacted by automated telephone 30 days after colonoscopy to assess complications. Control group participants self-reported complications. Primary and secondary endpoints were response rates to feedback and complications questionnaire, respectively.

Results There were 1,281 and 1,260 participants in the intervention and control arms, respectively. There was no significant difference in response rate between study groups (64.8 % vs 61.5 %; P = 0.08). Free choice of feedback improved response for participants identified as poor responders: younger than 60 years (60.8 % vs 54.7 %; P = 0.031), male (64.0 % vs 58.6 %; P = 0.045) and in small non-public center (56.2 % vs 42.5 %; P = 0.043).

In the intervention arm, 1,168 participants (91.2 %) answered the phone call concerning complications. A total of 79 participants (6.2 %) reported complications, of which two (0.2 %) were verified by telephone as clinically relevant. No complications were self-reported in the control group.

Conclusion The overall response rate was not significantly improved with digital feedback, yet the technology yielded significant improvement in participants defined as poor responders. Our study demonstrated feasibility and efficacy of digital patient feedback about complications after colonoscopy.
Clinical impact of peroral endoscopic myotomy for esophageal motility disorders on esophageal muscle layer thickness
Authors: Watanabe Daisuke , Tanaka Shinwa , Kawara Fumiaki , Abe Hirohumi , Ariyoshi Ryusuke , Nakano Yoshiko , Takao Toshitatsu , Morita Yoshinori , Toyonaga Takashi , Umegaki Eiji , Kodama Yuzo
Published: April 2019

Background and study aims Previously, we reported that esophageal muscle layer thickness was associated with technical complexity of peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM). However, there are no data regarding the mid-term effects of POEM procedures on esophageal muscle layer thickness. Therefore, we conducted this study to elucidate mid-term effects of POEM procedures, and to examine whether postoperative changes in esophageal muscle layer thickness were related to particular clinico-pathological features in patients with esophageal motility disorders.

Patients and methods Seventy-four consecutive patients with esophageal motility disorders who underwent POEM at Kobe University Hospital from April 2015 to December 2016 were prospectively recruited into this study. First, we investigated the esophageal muscle layer thickness values obtained at 1 year after POEM. Second, we evaluated the effects of a reduction in muscle layer thickness on various clinico-pathological features.

Results At 1 year after POEM, mean thickness of the inner circular muscle at 0 cm, 5 cm, and 10 cm from the esophagogastric junction was 1.06 ± 0.45 mm, 0.99 ± 0.36 mm, and 0.97 ± 0.44 mm, respectively. Among all sites, muscle layer thickness had significantly decreased after POEM. However, univariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that no clinical factors were associated with esophageal muscle layer thickness after POEM procedure.

Conclusions We demonstrated for the first time that thickness of the esophageal muscle layer was significantly decreased after POEM. This result reveals that changes in esophageal muscle layer thickness caused by esophageal motility disorders are reversible.
Congenital Hypothyroidism is Associated With Impairment of the Leptin Signaling Pathway in the Hypothalamus in Male Wistar Animals in Adult Life
Authors: Aiceles Veronica , Gombar Flavia , Cavalcante Fernanda , Ramos Cristiane
Published: April 2019

The goal of this study is to investigate whether congenital hypothyroidism induced by MMI during gestation (G) or gestation plus lactation (GL) would affect the leptin action upon body weight control on hypothalamus. Six to eight pups per group were killed at 90 days of age. For statistical analysis one-way ANOVA followed by the Holm–Sìdak post hoc test was used. Hypothyroidism resulted in a significant increase in leptin serum levels in G 20% and GL 25% (p<0.04). There was a significant expression decrease of OBR in G 45% and GL 63%; pSTAT3 in G 56% and GL 51%; pERK in G 50% and GL 48%; POMC in G 41% and GL 46% (p<0.04), while a significant increase was assigned to SOCS3 in G 52% and GL 170% (p<0.04) protein expression. We can conclude that hypothyroxinemia condition in rats on adulthood results in impairment of the leptin signaling pathway via ObRb-STAT3 in the hypothalamus, which is likely to be involved in the leptin resistance.
Postoperative Ileus
Authors: Harnsberger Cristina , Maykel Justin , Alavi Karim
Published: April 2019

Postoperative ileus (POI) is a common complication following colon and rectal surgery, with reported incidence ranging from 10 to 30%. It can lead to increased morbidity, cost, and length of stay. Although definitions vary considerably in the literature, in its pathologic form, it can be characterized by a temporary inhibition of gastrointestinal motility after surgical intervention due to nonmechanical causes that prevents sufficient oral intake. Various risk factors for development of POI have been identified including increasing age, American Society of Anesthesiologists scores 3 to 4, open approach, operative difficulty, operative duration more than 3 hours, bowel handling, drop in hematocrit or need for a transfusion, increasing crystalloid administration, and delayed mobilization. While treatment is expectant and supportive, significant investigations into strategies to mitigate development of POI or shorten its duration have been undertaken with mixed results. There is significant evidence to suggest that a minimally invasive approach and multimodal pain regimens reduce the development of POI. The beneficial effect of chewing gum, alvimopan, and enhanced recovery after surgery protocols may decrease development of POI in selected groups of patients who undergo elective colorectal surgery, and shorten time to return of bowel function, but overall, the data remain inconclusive.
A Clinical Study on 299 Cases of Nasal Bone Fractures
Authors: Saiki Tadahiko , Ogawa Teruhiro , Kuroda Kazuaki , Miyahara Satoko , Makino Takuma , Koyama Takahisa , Onoda Tomoo
Published: April 2019

We clinically investigated 299 cases of fresh nasal bone fractures diagnosed using computed tomography (CT) scan in our hospital between January 2008 and December 2017. The ages of the patients ranged from 2 to 93 years with an average of 29.4 years. There were 207 males and 92 females. The causes of the nasal bone fractures included sports (93 cases), falls (80 cases), blow or injuries (53 cases), violence or fights (40 cases), and traffic accidents (33 cases). Males in their teenage years accounted for the majority of cases, particularly in the sports-related injuries. In these cases, the most common cause was baseball (32 cases), followed by soccer (19 cases), softball (15 cases), basketball (8 cases), and so on. In the cases of traffic accidents, nasal bone fractures were caused by bicycles (18 cases), cars (10 cases), motorcycles (2 cases), and so on. Elderly males and females accounted for high numbers of falls. The external appearance of the nasal bone fractures were divided into three types: the displacement type (171 cases), depressed type (96 cases), and mixed type (32 cases). CT scan revealed nasal septum fractures in 132 cases (44.2%). Complicated facial bone fractures, apart from nasal septum fractures, were found in 35 cases (11.7%, mainly blow-out and maxillary bone fractures). In total, 221 cases (73.9%) underwent closed reductions of the nasal bone fracture. Of these, 206 cases (93.2%) were treated under general anesthesia and in 131 cases (59.3%), open reduction of the nasal septum fractures was mainly performed. In the cases of nasal bone fractures combined with nasal septum fractures, open reduction of the nasal septum fractures was helpful for the recovery of the nasal obstruction and nasal deformity.
Complications of Injectables in the Perioral Region
Authors: Talei Ben
Published: April 2019

The continual advent of novel injectables has broadened the potential applications and use for facial aesthetics immensely. There are inherent risks and limitations in predictability associated with any product that is injected freely into human tissues that may possess bioreactivity. This article seeks to elucidate the most commonly feared complications as well as minor complications often overlooked by practitioners. The author also discusses the corresponding appropriate treatments.
Smoking and Obesity are Risk Factors for Thirty-Day Readmissions Following Skull Base Surgery
Authors: Makwana Milan , Taylor Peter N. , Stew Benjamin T. , Shone Geoffrey , Hayhurst Caroline
Published: April 2019

Background Thirty-day readmission has become a significant health care metric reflecting the quality of care and on the cost of service delivery. There is little data on the impact of complications following skull base surgery (SBS) on emergency readmission. Identifying modifiable risk factors for readmission may improve care and reduce cost.

Design The study was designed as a single-center retrospective cohort study.

Methods Records for a consecutive series of 165 patients who underwent open or endoscopic SBS by a single surgeon reviewed. Patients with pituitary adenoma were excluded. The diagnosis, procedure, complications, length of stay (LOS), body mass index (BMI), and smoking status were recorded. Readmission to the neurosurgical department or regional hospitals was either noted prospectively or the patient contacted. Cause and length of readmission was documented.

Results Of the 165 cases, 14 (8.5%) were readmitted within 30 days. Causes for readmission included cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak in 5/14 or 35.7% (overall rate for readmission for this complication in the series is 3.1%), infection in 4/14 (28.6%), hyponatraemia in 2/14 (14.3%), vascular: sinus thrombosis in 1/14 (7.1%), seizures in 1/14 (7.1%), and epistaxis in 1/14 (7.1%). Initial and readmission LOS was 6 and 14 days, respectively. BMI was higher in those readmitted within 30 days (33.2 kg/m2) versus no readmission (27.1 kg/m2). In addition, of those readmitted within 30 days, 35.7% were smokers compared with 20.8% in those not readmitted.

Conclusion In this series, smoking and raised BMI may be indicators for within 30-day readmission and complications in this population, raising the question of risk factor modification prior to elective intervention.
Intracranial Mature Teratoma in an Adult Patient: A Case Report
Authors: Romić Dominik , Raguž Marina , Marčinković Petar , Sesar Patricija , Špero Martina , Čolak Romić Zrinka , Dlaka Domagoj , Chudy Darko
Published: April 2019

Introduction: Primary intracranial teratoma is a subtype of germ cell tumors, classified into three subtypes. They occur very rarely, with only several reported individual cases in adults.

Case Description We present a patient with an intermittent headache in the right frontal region. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a right sided high frontal parasagittal mass that compressed the falx, the right lateral ventricle, as well as the brain parenchyma. Patient underwent surgical treatment. Histopathological analysis described mature teratoma. Four months after the surgical treatment there were no signs of residual intracranial mass or relapse.

Discussion Primary intracranial teratoma in adults has a nonspecific clinical presentation. MRI reveals a solitary irregular mass with multilocularity and mixed signals derived from different tissues. The patients age, biochemical markers, and patohistological analysis are necessary to confirm the diagnosis.

Conclusion Teratoma treatment strategy still remains controversial. It includes radical resection whenever possible. Since the residual portion of mature teratoma may contain part of immature or malignant tissue, tumor recurrence after surgical removal is possible. Also, new tumor mass could occur at other sites intracranial after the initial one was removed. Thus, although patients usually recover, they should be followed-up for a long period of time.
Low-temperature tunneling of CH3 quantum rotor in van der Waals solids
Authors: Benetis Nikolas P. , Zelenetckii Ilia A. , Dmitriev Yurij A.
Published: April 2019

Motional quantum effects of tunneling methyl radical isolated in solid gases as they appear on experimental electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra are examined. Obtained analytical expressions of the tunneling frequency for methyl rotor/torsional-oscillator utilizing localized Hermite polynomials are compared to full numerical computations and tested against experimental EPR lineshape simulations. In particular, the X-band of methyl radical was displaying partial anisotropy averaging even at lowest temperatures. EPR lineshape simulations involving rotational dynamics were applied for the accurate determination of the potential barrier and the tunneling frequency. Tunneling frequency, as the splitting between the A and E torsional levels by the presence of a periodic C3 model potential with periodic boundary conditions, was computed and related to the EPR-lineshape alteration. The corresponding C2 rotary tunneling about the in-plane axes of methyl was also studied while both the C2 and C3 rotations were compared with the rotation of deuteriated methyl radical.
Forelli type theorem in harmonic map forms
Authors: Li Song-Ying , Luo Jie
Published: April 2019

In the current paper, we give and prove a formulation of the Forelli Theorem on a starlike domain in

C

n

\mathbb {C}^n

. We also generalize the Forelli Theorem from a function to a map with a real Riemannian manifold as its target manifold.
Tensor-multinomial sums of ideals: Primary decompositions and persistence of associated primes
Authors: Swanson Irena , Walker Robert
Published: April 2019

Given a Noetherian tensor product of two Noetherian algebras over a field and proper ideals

I
I

and

J
J

in the two algebras, we determine the associated primes of each power of

I
+
J

I+J

in terms of the associated primes of lower powers of

I
I

and of

J
J

. We record two applications. First, in case the field is algebraically closed, we construct primary decompositions for powers of

I
+
J

I+J

from primary decompositions for powers of

I
I

and

J
J

. Separately, we attack the persistence problem for associated primes of powers of an ideal in case one of

I
I

or

J
J

is a non-zero normal ideal.
Meaning Through Caregiving: A Qualitative Study of the Experiences of Informal Carers
Authors: Chan Chak K , Vickers Tom , Barnard Adam
Published: April 2019

This article reports the findings of a qualitative investigation of the way people find meaning through caregiving. It draws on the results of in-depth interviews with 37 informal carers and 11 stakeholders in Nottinghamshire, the United Kingdom. For most respondents caregiving involved looking after family members—for example, husband or wife, father or mother, young or adult children and mother-in-law. The meaning that respondents found through caregiving motivated them to cope with the difficulties associated with looking after a person in need. This research found that most informal carers operate with long-standing, gender-based understandings of their role, creating a potential risk that using gender-neutral terminology when referring to family members may obscure the subjective values that carers attach to informal caregiving and lead to role confusion. Moreover, although informal carers typically feel obliged to take care of family members in need and may value this role, they often require additional support from the state to reduce the pressures associated with caregiving and to enable them to continue to lead a meaningful life both within and beyond their caring role.
Rectal-prolapse repair in men is safe, but outcomes are not well understood
Authors: Poylin Vitaliy Y , Irani Jennifer L , Rahbar Reza , Kapadia Muneera R
Published: April 2019

Introduction

Rectal prolapse is a condition that occurs infrequently in men and there is little literature guiding treatment in this population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the surgical approach and outcomes of rectal-prolapse repair in men.

Methods

A retrospective multicenter review was conducted of consecutive men who underwent rectal-prolapse repair between 2004 and 2014. Surgical approaches and outcomes, including erectile function and fecal continence, were evaluated.

Results

During the study period, 58 men underwent rectal-prolapse repair and the mean age of repair was 52.7 ± 24.1 years. The mean follow-up was 13.2 months (range, 0.5–117 months). The majority of patients underwent endoscopic evaluation (78%), but few patients underwent anal manometry (16%), defecography (9%) or ultrasound (3%). Ten patients (17%) underwent biofeedback/pelvic-floor physical therapy prior to repair. Nineteen patients (33%) underwent a perineal approach (most were perineal proctosigmoidectomy). Thirty-nine patients (67%) underwent repair using an abdominal approach (all were suture rectopexy) and, of these, 77% were completed using a minimally invasive technique. The overall complication rate was 26% including urinary retention (16%), which was more common in patients undergoing the perineal approach (32% vs. 8%, P = 0.028), urinary-tract infection (7%) and wound infection (3%). The overall recurrence rate was 9%, with no difference between abdominal and perineal approaches. Information on sexual function was missing in the majority of patients  both before and after surgery (76% and 78%, respectively).

Conclusion

 Rectal-prolapse repair in men is safe and has a low recurrence rate; however, sexual function was poorly recorded across all institutions. Further studies are needed to evaluate to best approach to and functional outcomes of rectal-prolapse repair in men.
FAST: Fast and Accurate Synoptic Texts
Authors: Brill Oran , Koppel Moshe , Shmidman Avi
Published: April 2019

Many classical texts are available in multiple versions that almost always differ from each other due to transcription error and editorial discretion. One of the central challenges in the study of such texts is the preparation of a ‘synoptic’ text: an aligned presentation of the various versions in which corresponding words or phrases, even if not identical, are mapped to each other. Multiple text alignment of this sort must take into account orthographic and conceptual relationships between words. In this article, we define this text alignment problem as an optimization problem by providing a formal measure of alignment quality. Unlike previous measures, our measure uses word embeddings to take into account conceptual similarity between aligned words. We propose an efficient and scalable alignment method in accordance with the proposed criteria. This method splits the texts to be aligned into smaller subtexts, thus improving both efficiency and accuracy. Empirical comparisons on sample data indicate our method is significantly faster than existing methods, often rendering intractable problems tractable, and that the alignment obtained by our method is considerably better than that obtained by other methods.