Observation of the decay B- → D(s)((*)+) K- ℓ- ν(ℓ)

We report the observation of the decay B- → D(s)((*)+) K- ℓ- ν(ℓ) based on 342  fb(-1) of data collected at the Υ(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e+ e- storage rings at SLAC. A simultaneous fit to three D(s)(+) decay chains is performed to extract the signal yield from measurements of the squared missing mass in the B meson decay. We observe the decay B- → D(s)((*)+) K- ℓ- ν(ℓ) with a significance greater than 5 standard deviations (including systematic uncertainties) and measure its branching fraction to be B(B- → D(s)((*)+) K- ℓ- ν(ℓ)) = [6.13(-1.03)(+1.04)(stat)±0.43(syst)±0.51(B(D(s)))]×10(-4), where the last error reflects the limited knowledge of the D(s) branching fractions.

Search for production of invisible final states in single-photon decays of Υ(1S)

We search for single-photon decays of the Υ(1S) resonance, Υ → γ + invisible, where the invisible state is either a particle of definite mass, such as a light Higgs boson A⁰, or a pair of dark matter particles, χχ. Both A⁰ and χ are assumed to have zero spin. We tag Υ(1S) decays with a dipion transition Υ(2S) → π⁺π⁻Υ(1S) and look for events with a single energetic photon and significant missing energy. We find no evidence for such processes in the mass range m(A⁰) ≤ 9.2 GeV and m(χ) ≤ 4.5 GeV in the sample of 98 × 10⁶ Υ(2S) decays collected with the BABAR detector and set stringent limits on new physics models that contain light dark matter states.

Barriers to the utilization of dental services in udaipur, India

OBJECTIVE

Regular home care and yearly dental check-ups are the best means of dental care. In spite of the information on dental care, many people fail to take these precautions. The objective of this study was to determine the barriers in regular dental care and home care and to assess their association with age, sex, education and income.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 427 randomly selected individuals, 248 males and 179 females. Data were collected by a pre-tested, self-administered 14 question questionnaire. The answer "very much" was scored as one, "to some degree" as two and "not at all" as three. The data was described and analyzed by frequency distribution and chi square test with P<0.05 level of significance. Logistic regression was used to investigate the association between dental visits with age, sex and education. Correlation between income and dental visits was determined by Spearman's correlation coefficient.

RESULTS

The male group had more dental visits (P>0.05), but females experienced higher dental fear (P<0.001). The younger age group had more visits within one year in comparison to the older. Increase in education, decreases the barriers for regular dental care. Income had a significantly negative correlation with dental visit (P=0.02).

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that males believed in having regular dental care. Cost of the treatment also affected the dental visits, but the distance they had to travel to get the dental treatment was not much significant. Above all, felt need had a major impact on the dental visits.

Search for f(J)(2220) in radiative J/ψ decays

We present a search for f(J)(2220) production in radiative J/ψ→γf(J)(2220) decays using 460  fb⁻¹ of data collected with the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II e(+)e⁻ collider. The f(J)(2220) is searched for in the decays to K(+)K⁻ and K(S)⁰K(S)⁰. No evidence of this resonance is observed, and 90% confidence level upper limits on the product of the branching fractions for J/ψ→γf(J)(2220) and f(J)(2220)→K(+)K⁻(K(S)⁰K(S)⁰) as a function of spin and helicity are set at the level of 10⁻⁵, below the central values reported by the Mark III experiment.

Biodistribution of the Ga-68 labeled somatostatin analogue DOTA-NOC in patients with neuroendocrine tumors: characterization of uptake in normal organs and tumor lesions

AIM

The aim of the study was 1) to determine the normal biodistribution of radiolabeled somatostatin analogue (68)Ga DOTA-NOC; 2) to establish the range of its uptake in liver, bone and lymph node metastases in patients with NET, 3) to establish the cut-off value for differentiating between physiological uptake and tumor related sstr expression in the processus uncinatus of pancreas.

METHODS

Maximum standardized uptake values (SUV(max)) of (68)Ga DOTA-NOC were determined in normal organs of 89 NET patients undergoing receptor PET/CT. In addition, SUV(max) of primary pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNET), liver, bone and lymph node metastases were evaluated.

RESULTS

SUV(max) (mean + or - standard deviation) were determined in: pituitary gland 2.6 + or - 1.3, thyroid: 3.4 + or - 1.4, lung: 0.9 + or - 0.8, normal liver: 6.9 + or - 2 , spleen: 22.0 + or - 10.0, adrenal 6.0 + or - 2.5, kidney: 12.9 + or - 3.8, gastrointestinal tract 2.3 + or - 1.0, gluteal muscle:1.0 + or - 0.3, femur 0.8 + or - 0.3, blood pool 2.6 + or - 1.2 and processus uncinatus of pancreas 5.8 + or - 2.0. SUV(max) of (68)Ga DOTA-NOC was 19.6 + or - 13.4 (N.=200) in liver metastases, 12.5 + or - 10 (N.=67) in lymph nodes metastasis, 9.5 + or - 6.0 (N.=78) in bone lesions, and 20.8 + or - 10.8 (N.=26) in pancreatic neuroendocrine primary tumors. Target to non target (T/NT) ratios were 3.4 + or - 2.3 for liver metastases (with normal

CONCLUSIONS

There is a broad range of sstr expression in metastastic lesions and in pNET. The splenic uptake of (68)Ga DOTA-NOC is highly variable. (68)Ga DOTA-NOC is an excellent tracer for imaging somatostatin receptor positive tumors, which, due to the high target to non-target ratios, allows the detection of very small lesions, especially of lymph node and bone metastases.

Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in patients over 40 years using hamstring autograft

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is becoming increasingly popular in active middle-aged patients with symptomatic instability. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the results of ACL reconstruction in patients over the age of 40. Twenty-one patients with a median age of 44 (range 40-56) who had arthroscopically assisted reconstruction using four-stranded hamstring autograft were reviewed. RCI titanium interference screw fixation was used in the tibia, and Endobutton CL fixation in the femur. The clinical results were assessed at a mean follow-up of 2 years. The median value for the Lysholm knee score was 92 (range 74-100), and the median value for the International Knee Documentation Committee score was 83 (range 53-97). For the Tegner activity scale, the median value was 6 (range 4-8) at follow-up. The median side-to-side difference using the KT-1000 arthrometer was 2 mm (range 0-3.5 mm). Hamstring ACL reconstruction in appropriately selected middle-aged patients can yield successful and satisfactory results.

Marker-free transgenic corn plant production through co-bombardment

The use of particle gun for the production of marker-free plants is scant in published literature. Perhaps this is a reflection of the widely held notion that the events generated through bombardment tend to have multiple copies of transgenes, usually integrated at a single locus, features which precludes segregating away the selectable marker gene. However, our previous studies have shown that single-copy integrants are obtained at a high frequency if limited quantity of DNA is used for bombardment. Also, the concatemerized insertion of transgenes has been demonstrated to be greatly reduced if "cassette DNA" is employed in place of whole plasmid DNA for bombardment. Based on the above findings, in the present study the feasibility of co-bombardment was evaluated for the production of marker-free plants in corn, employing a combination of limited quantity DNA and cassette DNA approaches for bombardment. Transgenic events were generated after co-bombardment of a selectable marker cassette containing the nptII gene (2.5 ng per shot) and a GUS gene cassette (15 ng per shot). Among these events single-copy integrants for nptII gene occurred at an average frequency of 68% within which the co-expression frequency of GUS and nptII genes ranged from 41% to 80%. Marker-free corn plants could be identified from the progeny of 28 out of the 103 R0 co-expressing events screened. The results demonstrate that by using cassette DNA and low quantities of DNA for bombardment, marker-free plants are produced at efficiencies comparable to that of Agrobacterium-based co-transformation methods.

Magnetic properties of iron particles embedded in multiwall carbon nanotubes

Iron nanoparticles are embedded in multiwall carbon nanotubes by the chemical vapor deposition, where benzene and ferrocene are taken as precursor materials. Varying quantity of iron particles are embedded in these tubes by taking different amount of ferrocene. These particles exhibit a magnetic moment up to 98 emu/g and an enhanced coercivity in the range of 500-2000 Oe. Negative magnetoresistance approximately 10% is observed in the presence of magnetic field up to 11 T applied at various temperatures in the range of 1.3 K-300 K. It is argued that the enhanced coercivity is due to the shape anisotropy. The negative magnetoresistance is believed to be due to the weak localization and spin dependent scattering of electrons by the ferromagnetic particles. In addition we also observe a dependence of the magnetoresistance on the direction of applied field and this is correlated with the shape anisotropy of the Fe particles.

Flow fields in soap films: Relating viscosity and film thickness

We follow the diffusive motion of colloidal particles in soap films with varying h / d, where h is the thickness of the film and d is the diameter of the particles. The hydrodynamics of these films are determined by looking at the correlated motion of pairs of particles as a function of separation R. The Trapeznikov approximation [A. A. Trapeznikov, (Butterworths, London, 1957), p. 242] is used to model soap films as an effective two-dimensional (2D) fluid in contact with bulk air phases. The flow fields determined from correlated particle motions show excellent agreement with what is expected for the theory of 2D fluids for all our films where 0.6 < or = h / d < or = 14.3 , with the 2D shear viscosity matching that predicted by Trapeznikov. However, the parameters of these flow fields change markedly for thick films (h / d > 7 + or - 3) . Our results indicate that three-dimensional effects become important for these thicker films, despite the flow fields still having a 2D character.

Detection of unknown primary neuroendocrine tumors (CUP-NET) using 68Ga DOTA-NOC receptor PET/CT

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Background: This bi-centric study aimed at determining the role of receptor PET/CT using 68Ga-DOTA-NOC in the detection of undiagnosed primary sites of neuroendocrine tumours (NETs). Methods: Overall 59 patients (M: F 33:26, age 65±9 yr) with documented NET and unknown primary, were enrolled. PET/CT was performed after injection of approximately 100 MBq (46–260 MBq) of 68Ga-DOTA-NOC. The maximum standardised uptake values (SUVmax) were calculated and compared with SUVmax in known pancreatic NET (pNET) and ileum / jejunum / duodenum (SI-NET). The results of PET/CT were also correlated with CT alone. Results: In 35/59 (59%) of patients, 68Ga-DOTA-NOC PET/CT localised the site of the primary: ileum/jejunum (14), pancreas (16), rectum (2), lungs (2) and paraganglioma (1). CT alone (on retrospective analyses) confirmed the findings in 12/59 (20%) patients. The mean SUVmax of identified previously unknown pNET and SI-Net were 18.6 ± 9.8 (range 7.8–34.8) and 9.1± 6.0 (range 4.2–27.8), respectively. SUVmax in patients with previously known pNET and SI-NET were 26.1± 14.5 (range 8.7–42.4) and 11.3±3.7 (range 5.6- 17.9). The SUVmax of the unknown pNET and SI-NET were significantly lower (p< 0.05) as compared to the ones with known primary tumour sites. 19% of the patients had high grade, and 81% low grade NET. In 4/59 patients the primary tumour was subsequently resected (2 pancretic, one ileal and one rectal tumour). Conclusions: Our data indicate that 68Ga- DOTA-NOC PET/CT is highly superior to 111In Octreoscan (17% detection rate for CUP according to literature) and can play a major role in the management of patients with CUP-NET.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Two-dimensional to three-dimensional transition in soap films demonstrated by microrheology

We follow the diffusive motion of colloidal particles of diameter d in soap films of varying thickness h with fluorescence microscopy. Diffusion constants are obtained both from one- and two-particle microrheological measurements of particle motion in these films. These diffusion constants are related to the surface viscosity of the interfaces comprising the soap films, by means of the Trapeznikov approximation and Saffman's equation for diffusion in a 2D fluid. Unphysical values of the surface viscosity are found for thick soap films (h/d>7+/-3), indicating a transition from 2D to 3D behavior.