The RMS Charge Radius of the Proton and Zemach Moments

On the basis of recent precise measurements of the electric form factor of the proton, the Zemach moments, needed as input parameters for the determination of the proton rms radius from the measurement of the Lamb shift in muonic hydrogen, are calculated. It turns out that the new moments give an uncertainty as large as the presently stated error of the recent Lamb shift measurement of Pohl et al.. De Rujula's idea of a large Zemach moment in order to reconcile the five standard deviation discrepancy between the muonic Lamb shift determination and the result of electronic experiments is shown to be in clear contradiction with experiment. Alternative explanations are touched upon.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, final version includes discussion of systematic and numerical error

Quasi-elastic polarization-transfer measurements on the deuteron in anti-parallel kinematics

We present measurements of the polarization-transfer components in the $^2$H$(\vec e,e'\vec p)$ reaction, covering a previously unexplored kinematic region with large positive (anti-parallel) missing momentum, $p_{\rm miss}$, up to 220 MeV$/c$, and $Q^2=0.65$ $({\rm GeV}/c)^2$. These measurements, performed at the Mainz Microtron (MAMI), were motivated by theoretical calculations which predict small final-state interaction (FSI) effects in these kinematics, making them favorable for searching for medium modifications of bound nucleons in nuclei. We find in this kinematic region that the measured polarization-transfer components $P_x$ and $P_z$ and their ratio agree with the theoretical calculations, which use free-proton form factors. Using this, we establish upper limits on possible medium effects that modify the bound proton's form factor ratio $G_E/G_M$ at the level of a few percent. We also compare the measured polarization-transfer components and their ratio for $^2$H to those of a free (moving) proton. We find that the universal behavior of $^2$H, $^4$He and $^{12}$C in the double ratio $\frac{(P_x/P_z)^A}{(P_x/P_z)^{^1\rm H}}$ is maintained in the positive missing-momentum region

The first determination of Generalized Polarizabilities of the proton by a Virtual Compton Scattering experiment

Absolute differential cross sections for the reaction (e+p -> e+p+gamma) have been measured at a four-momentum transfer with virtuality Q^2=0.33 GeV^2 and polarization \epsilon = 0.62 in the range 33.6 to 111.5 MeV/c for the momentum of the outgoing photon in the photon-proton center of mass frame. The experiment has been performed with the high resolution spectrometers at the Mainz Microtron MAMI. From the photon angular distributions, two structure functions which are a linear combination of the generalized polarizabilities have been determined for the first time.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Circulating microparticles: square the circle

Background: The present review summarizes current knowledge about microparticles (MPs) and provides a systematic overview of last 20 years of research on circulating MPs, with particular focus on their clinical relevance. Results: MPs are a heterogeneous population of cell-derived vesicles, with sizes ranging between 50 and 1000 nm. MPs are capable of transferring peptides, proteins, lipid components, microRNA, mRNA, and DNA from one cell to another without direct cell-to-cell contact. Growing evidence suggests that MPs present in peripheral blood and body fluids contribute to the development and progression of cancer, and are of pathophysiological relevance for autoimmune, inflammatory, infectious, cardiovascular, hematological, and other diseases. MPs have large diagnostic potential as biomarkers; however, due to current technological limitations in purification of MPs and an absence of standardized methods of MP detection, challenges remain in validating the potential of MPs as a non-invasive and early diagnostic platform. Conclusions: Improvements in the effective deciphering of MP molecular signatures will be critical not only for diagnostics, but also for the evaluation of treatment regimens and predicting disease outcomes

Gauged Linear Sigma Models for toroidal orbifold resolutions

Toroidal orbifolds and their resolutions are described within the framework of (2,2) Gauged Linear Sigma Models (GLSMs). Our procedure describes two-tori as hypersurfaces in (weighted) projective spaces. The description is chosen such that the orbifold singularities correspond to the zeros of their homogeneous coordinates. The individual orbifold singularities are resolved using a GLSM guise of non-compact toric resolutions, i.e. replacing discrete orbifold actions by Abelian worldsheet gaugings. Given that we employ the same global coordinates for both the toroidal orbifold and its resolutions, our GLSM formalism confirms the gluing procedure on the level of divisors discussed by Lust et al. Using our global GLSM description we can study the moduli space of such toroidal orbifolds as a whole. In particular, changes in topology can be described as phase transitions of the underlying GLSM. Finally, we argue that certain partially resolvable GLSMs, in which a certain number of fixed points can never be resolved, might be useful for the study of mini-landscape orbifold MSSMs.Comment: 71 pages, 2 figure

Increased thermal stabilization of polymer photovoltaic cells with oligomeric PCBM

The first oligomerisation of phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) using a facile atom transfer radical addition polymerization (ATRAP) and its exploitation for organic photovoltaic devices is described. Oligo{(phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester)-alt-[1,4-bis(bromomethyl)-2,5-bis(octyloxy)benzene]} (OPCBMMB) shows opto-electronic properties equivalent to those of PCBM but has a higher glass transition temperature. When mixed with various band gap semiconducting polymers, OPCBMMB delivers performances similar to PCBM but with an enhanced stabilization of the bulk heterojunction in photovoltaic devices on plastic substrates under thermal stress, regardless of the degree of crystallinity of the polymer and without changing opto-electronic properties

SHOX2 DNA Methylation is a Biomarker for the diagnosis of lung cancer based on bronchial aspirates

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study aimed to show that SHOX2 DNA methylation is a tumor marker in patients with suspected lung cancer by using bronchial fluid aspirated during bronchoscopy. Such a biomarker would be clinically valuable, especially when, following the first bronchoscopy, a final diagnosis cannot be established by histology or cytology. A test with a low false positive rate can reduce the need for further invasive and costly procedures and ensure early treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Marker discovery was carried out by differential methylation hybridization (DMH) and real-time PCR. The real-time PCR based HeavyMethyl technology was used for quantitative analysis of DNA methylation of SHOX2 using bronchial aspirates from two clinical centres in a case-control study. Fresh-frozen and Saccomanno-fixed samples were used to show the tumor marker performance in different sample types of clinical relevance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Valid measurements were obtained from a total of 523 patient samples (242 controls, 281 cases). DNA methylation of SHOX2 allowed to distinguish between malignant and benign lung disease, i.e. abscesses, infections, obstructive lung diseases, sarcoidosis, scleroderma, stenoses, at high specificity (68% sensitivity [95% CI 62-73%], 95% specificity [95% CI 91-97%]).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Hypermethylation of SHOX2 in bronchial aspirates appears to be a clinically useful tumor marker for identifying subjects with lung carcinoma, especially if histological and cytological findings after bronchoscopy are ambiguous.</p