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Multiplicities of charged hadrons produced in deep inelastic muon scattering off a 6LiD target have been measured as a function of the DIS variables xBj , Q2, W2 and the final state hadron variables pT and z. The p2T distributions are fitted with a single exponential function at low values of p2T to determine the dependence of 〈p2T 〉 on xBj , Q2, W2 and z. The z-dependence of 〈p2T 〉 is shown to be a potential tool to extract the average intrinsic transverse momentum squared of partons, 〈k2⊥〉, as a function of xBj and Q2 in a leading order QCD parton model.

The present article aims to give expression to a personal experience that I had as a teaching nurse collaborating in a co-operation for development project, giving specialised training to a group of nurses in Nemba hospital, in Rwanda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Deprescription of medications for older people in long-term care settings is crucial to enhance medication safety by reducing polypharmacy and minimizing related adverse events. Nurses as the member of the multidisciplinary healthcare team can support deprescription initiatives, but there is a gap in comprehensive knowledge about their roles., Objectives: To investigate the role and contribution of nurses in deprescribing medications within the multidisciplinary pharmaceutical care context of long-term healthcare for older people., Design: A systematic review utilizing an integrative approach was performed., Methods: Multiple databases were searched, including PubMed (covering MEDLINE), Scopus, CINAHL, ProQuest and Embase, focusing on studies published in English from 2014 to 2024. The preliminary search yielded 4872 studies, which were then refined to 32 qualitative and quantitative studies chosen for data analysis and narrative synthesis. Thematic comparisons and analysis led to the creation of meaningful categories integrating the studies' findings to meet the review's objective., Results: The review findings were classified into categories: 'necessity and benefits of deprescribing', 'multidisciplinary collaboration for deprescribing', 'nurse role in deprescribing', 'identified challenges to deprescribing', 'involvement of older people and families in deprescribing'. They illustrated and exemplified various aspects of nurses' roles and contributions in deprescription initiatives within the multidisciplinary pharmaceutical care team, such as support for reducing doses, discontinuing medications or transitioning to safer alternatives, as well as factors influencing this process., Conclusion: The main dimensions of nurses' roles and contributions in deprescription initiatives encompass monitoring, communicating and educating. Challenges to nurses' active participation in deprescribing, such as the need for increased knowledge, confidence and inclusion in team discussions, should be addressed through education, training and changing attitudes. These steps are essential for improving the safety of medication deprescribing in long-term care settings., Trial Registration: The review was registered under PROSPERO ID: CRD42023486484, and can be accessed at crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=486484., (© The Author(s), 2024.)

New results are presented on a high-statistics measurement of Collins and Sivers asymmetries of charged hadrons produced in deep inelastic scattering of muons on a transversely polarized ^{6}LiD target. The data were taken in 2022 with the COMPASS spectrometer using the 160 GeV muon beam at CERN, statistically balancing the existing data on transversely polarized proton targets. The first results from about two-thirds of the new data have total uncertainties smaller by up to a factor of three compared to the previous deuteron measurements. Using all the COMPASS proton and deuteron results, both the transversity and the Sivers distribution functions of the u and d quark, as well as the tensor charge in the measured x range are extracted. In particular, the accuracy of the d quark results is significantly improved.

The COMPASS Collaboration performed measurements of the Drell-Yan process in 2015 and 2018 using a 190  GeV/c π^{-} beam impinging on a transversely polarized ammonia target. Combining the data of both years, we present final results on the amplitudes of five azimuthal modulations, which correspond to transverse-spin-dependent azimuthal asymmetries (TSAs) in the dimuon production cross section. Three of them probe the nucleon leading-twist Sivers, transversity, and pretzelosity transverse-momentum dependent (TMD) parton distribution functions (PDFs). The other two are induced by subleading effects. These TSAs provide unique new inputs for the study of the nucleon TMD PDFs and their universality properties. In particular, the Sivers TSA observed in this measurement is consistent with the fundamental QCD prediction of a sign change of naive time-reversal-odd TMD PDFs when comparing the Drell-Yan process with deep inelastic scattering. Also, within the context of model predictions, the observed transversity TSA is consistent with the expectation of a sign change for the Boer-Mulders function.

The concept of security is becoming a global challenge, and governments, stakeholders, corporate societies, and individuals must urgently create a reasonable protection mechanism for good. Therefore, a real-time surveillance system is essential for detection, tracking, and monitoring. Many studies have attempted to provide better solutions but more research and better approaches are essential. This study presents a real-time framework for object detection and tracking for security surveillance systems. The system has been designed based on approximate median filtering, component labeling, background subtraction, and deep learning approaches. The new algorithms for object detection, tracking, and recognition have been implemented using Python and integrated with C# programming languages for ease of use. A software application framework is designed, implemented, and evaluated. The experimental results based on MOT-Challenge performance metrics show that the proposed algorithms have much better performance in terms of accuracy and precision on the MOT15, MOT16, and MOT17 datasets compared to state-of-the-art approaches. This framework also provides an accurate and effective means of monitoring and recognizing moving objects. The software development, including the design of the framework user interfaces, is coded in the C# programming language and integrated with Python using Microsoft Visual Studio (2019 edition). The integration is performed to provide a convenient user interface and to enable the execution of the framework as a standard and standalone software application. Future studies will consider the dynamic scalability of the framework to accommodate different surveillance application areas in overcrowded scenarios. Multiple data sources are integrated to enhance the performance for different scene times, locations, and weather conditions. Furthermore, other object-detection techniques such as You Only Look Once (YOLO) and its variants shall be considered in future studies. These techniques allow the framework to adapt to complex situations in which security surveillance is challenging., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Introduction: This study in Argentina evaluated the impact of the growzen™ buddy smartphone app on adherence to recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) treatment., Methods: The adherence data, invitation dates with a link to the app, app activation dates, and height measurements entered were extracted from the growzen™ digital health ecosystem. Patients with 12 months of adherence data, aged ≥2 years at treatment start, and aged <19 years were selected both before and after app implementation. Mean adherence was classified as optimal (≥85%) versus suboptimal (<85%). Adherence before and after implementation and the pre-post effect on adherence were assessed., Results: Data for 830 patients were available. Prior to app implementation, the proportion of patients with optimal adherence was 68% ( n = 348/515). Following the app implementation, out of 315 patients, 302 (96%) received an invitation with a link to the app, 225 (71%) activated their account, and 127 (40%) entered height data in the first year. There was a significant early increase in the proportion of patients with optimal adherence following implementation: 82% ( n = 258/315), p < 0.001. After implementation, the proportion of patients with optimal adherence included 80% ( n = 78/98) of those with an active account who did not enter height measurements and 89% ( n = 113/127) of those who did. There was a significant and positive pre-post app effect on adherence ( p < 0.01) in patients with an active account., Discussion: Our results show that using the growzen™ buddy app has a rapid and positive impact on adherence to r-hGH treatment, and patients who were more engaged with the app demonstrated better adherence., Competing Interests: PvD has a consultancy agreement with Merck. LA and FM are employees of Ares Trading SA, Eysins, Switzerland, an affiliate ofMerck KGaA. ARA, MLC, and MD are employees of Merck S.A., Buenos Aires, Argentina, an affiliate of Merck KGaA. EK is an employee of Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and holds shares in the company. This study was funded by Merck (CrossRef Funder ID: 10.13039/100009945). The funder had the following involvement in the study: Conceptualization. The handling editor SL declared a past collaboration with the authors EK and PvD., (Copyright © 2024 van Dommelen, Arnaud, Assefi, Crespo, Debicki, Michelis and Koledova.)

Thickness measurements of objects, especially transparent and semi-transparent objects, are essential for their characterization and identification. However, in the case of occluded objects, the optical thickness determination becomes difficult, and an indirect way must be devised. Thermal loading of the objects changes their opto-thermal properties, which will be reflected as a change in their optical thickness. The key to quantifying such occluded objects lies in collecting these opto-thermal signatures. This could be achieved by imaging the changes occurring to a probe wavefront passing through the object while it is being thermally loaded. Digital holographic interferometry is an ideal tool for observing phase changes, as it can be used to compare wavefronts recorded at different instances of time. Lens-less Fourier transform digital holographic imaging provides the phase information from a single Fourier transform of the recorded hologram and can be used to quantify occluded phase objects. Here we describe a technique for the measurement of change in optical thickness of thermally loaded occluded phase samples using lens-less Fourier transform digital holography and machine learning. The advantage of the proposed technique is that it is a single shot, lens-less imaging modality for quasi-real-time quantification of phase samples behind thin occlusions.

We report a highly stable and affordable dual-wavelength digital holographic microscopy system based on common-path geometry. A Fresnel biprism is used to create an off-axis geometry, and two diode laser sources with different wavelengths λ1 = 532 nm and λ2 = 650 nm generate the dual-wavelength compound hologram. In order to extend the measurement range, the phase distribution is obtained using a synthetic wavelength Λ1 = 2930.5 nm. Furthermore, to improve the system's temporal stability and reduce speckle noise, a shorter wavelength (Λ2 = 292.5 nm) is used. The feasibility of the proposed configuration is validated by the experimental results obtained with Molybdenum trioxide, Paramecium, and red blood cell specimens., (© 2023 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.)

Introduction: The appropriate use of recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) treatment provides an opportunity to improve growth outcomes among pediatric patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). However, a major challenge in clinical practice is to adequately recognize and address factors that negatively affect treatment adherence. TUITEK ® patient support program (PSP) was designed to help caregivers of children diagnosed with GHD to personalize the care pathway, improve adherence, and achieve better outcomes. Effectiveness of TUITEK ® PSP has been demonstrated previously in a smaller sample (n = 31) in Taiwanese population. Here, we present the results from Argentina., Methods: TUITEK ® PSP was piloted among 76 caregivers of children with GHD administering r-hGH using easypod™ (Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) auto-injector device in Argentina. Based on TUITEK ® personalization questionnaire, caregivers were assigned to high- and low-risk groups across four categories that may influence adherence, including disease and treatment coherence (DTC), self-administration (SA), treatment-related anxiety (TRA), and emotional burden (EB). The caregivers who were included in atleast one high-risk group had the provision of telephone calls with a nurse practitioner every 2 weeks for 3 months. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was employed to assess changes in questionnaire-based scoring patterns between baseline and follow-up evaluations., Results: Statistically significant changes ( p < 0.05) in questionnaire scores between baseline and follow-up evaluations were observed across the four categories. The mean/median DTC (n = 11) and SA (n = 23) scores changed from 2.45/3 and 2.17/2, respectively, to 4/4, with all the caregivers moving to low-risk group following program completion (100%) for both categories. The mean/median TRA score (n = 40) changed from 3.58/3 to 2.5/2 and 67.5% of patients (27/40) moved to low-risk group. The mean/median EB score (n = 32) changed from 3.69/3 to 3.13/3 however, none of the caregivers moved to low-risk group (0%)., Conclusion: TUITEK ® PSP is a simple, practical, and time-efficient interventional tool that can be used to address key adherence-related issues among caregivers of children with GHD and provide personalized adherence support. Our findings demonstrate that TUITEK ® PSP has the potential to improve treatment adherence and self-management, thereby improving growth outcomes in Argentina., Competing Interests: AA, MC, MD, and JG are employees of Merck S.A. (an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), Argentina, Buenos Aires. JR and AJ are employees of Atlantis Healthcare, London, UK and received funding from Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to conduct this study. SG works on a consultancy basis for Atlantis Healthcare. EK is an employee of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and holds shares in the company. The authors declare that this study received funding from Merck (CrossRef Funder ID: 10.13039/100009945). The funder had the following involvement with the study: design and preparation of the manuscript and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication., (Copyright © 2023 Assefi, Graham, Crespo, Debicki, Reston, Gonzalez, Jheeta and Koledova.)

A simplified correlation index is proposed to be used in real-time pulse shape recognition systems. This index is similar to the classic Pearson's correlation coefficient, but it can be efficiently implemented in FPGA devices with far fewer logic resources and excellent performance. Numerical simulations with synthetic data and comparisons with the Pearson's correlation show the suitability of the proposed index in applications such as the discrimination and counting of pulses with a predefined shape. Superior performance is evident in signal-to-noise ratio scenarios close to unity. FPGA implementation of Person's method and the proposed correlation index have been successfully tested and the main results are summarized.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients are a significant threat to chronic kidney disease (CKD) development during their life. However, there is always a high chance of delay in CKD detection because CKD can be asymptomatic, and T1DM patients bypass traditional CKD tests during their routine checkups. This study aims to develop and validate a prediction model and nomogram of CKD in T1DM patients using readily available routine checkup data for early CKD detection. This research utilized 1375 T1DM patients' sixteen years of longitudinal data from multi-center Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) clinical trials conducted at 28 sites in the USA and Canada and considered 17 routinely available features. Three feature ranking algorithms, extreme gradient boosting (XGB), random forest (RF), and extremely randomized trees classifier (ERT), were applied to create three feature ranking lists, and logistic regression analyses were performed to develop CKD prediction models using these ranked feature lists to identify the best performing top-ranked features combination. Finally, the most significant features were selected to develop a multivariate logistic regression-based CKD prediction model for T1DM patients. This model was evaluated using sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, precision, and F1 score on train and test data. A nomogram of the final model was further generated for easy application in clinical practices. Hypertension, duration of diabetes, drinking habit, triglycerides, ACE inhibitors, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, age, and smoking habit were the top-8 features ranked by the XGB model and identified as the most important features for predicting CKD in T1DM patients. These eight features were selected to develop the final prediction model using multivariate logistic regression, which showed 90.04% and 88.59% accuracy in internal and test data validation. The proposed model showed excellent performance and can be used for CKD identification in T1DM patients during routine checkups.

In this study, we present a procedure to optimize a set of finite impulse response filter (FIR) coefficients for digital pulse-amplitude measurement. Such an optimized filter is designed using an adapted digital penalized least mean square (DPLMS) method. The effectiveness of the procedure is demonstrated using a dataset from a case study on high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy based on single-photon detection and energy measurements. The energy resolutions of the K α and K β lines of the Manganese energy spectrum have been improved by approximately 20%, compared to the reference values obtained by fitting individual photon pulses with the corresponding mathematical model.

Dissections are a fundamental practical methodology for teaching human anatomy. However, this experience can be stressful, generating anxiety situations among students. This study tries to understand the attitudes, reactions, fears and anxiety state among students earning a physiotherapy degree when facing their first prosection. A cross-sectional before-and-after study was carried out with students who were provided with an anonymous "ad hoc" questionnaire and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).The values obtained from the total STAI questionnaire remained stable and unchanged during the prosection (p>0.05). The levels of trait anxiety (TA) and state anxiety (SA) remained stable except in female students, who showed higher TA and SA scores, with a significance of p<0.05 before and after the prosection. Although 100% of the students were satisfied with the dissection practices, the experience can provoke stressful responses and should be addressed using coping mechanisms, especially among female students., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

The COMPASS Collaboration experiment recently discovered a new isovector resonancelike signal with axial-vector quantum numbers, the a&#95;{1}(1420), decaying to f&#95;{0}(980)π. With a mass too close to and a width smaller than the axial-vector ground state a&#95;{1}(1260), it was immediately interpreted as a new light exotic meson, similar to the X, Y, Z states in the hidden-charm sector. We show that a resonancelike signal fully matching the experimental data is produced by the decay of the a&#95;{1}(1260) resonance into K^{*}(→Kπ)K[over ¯] and subsequent rescattering through a triangle singularity into the coupled f&#95;{0}(980)π channel. The amplitude for this process is calculated using a new approach based on dispersion relations. The triangle-singularity model is fitted to the partial-wave data of the COMPASS experiment. Despite having fewer parameters, this fit shows a slightly better quality than the one using a resonance hypothesis and thus eliminates the need for an additional resonance in order to describe the data. We thereby demonstrate for the first time in the light-meson sector that a resonancelike structure in the experimental data can be described by rescattering through a triangle singularity, providing evidence for a genuine three-body effect.

The front-end electronics (FEE) of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) is needed very low power consumption and higher readout bandwidth to match the low power requirement of its Short Strip application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) (SSA) and to handle a large number of pileup events in the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC). A low-noise, wide bandwidth, and ultra-low power FEE for the pixel-strip sensor of the CMS has been designed and simulated in a 0.35 µm Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) process. The design comprises a Charge Sensitive Amplifier (CSA) and a fast Capacitor-Resistor-Resistor-Capacitor (CR-RC) pulse shaper (PS). A compact structure of the CSA circuit has been analyzed and designed for high throughput purposes. Analytical calculations were performed to achieve at least 998 MHz gain bandwidth, and then overcome pileup issue in the High-Luminosity LHC. The spice simulations prove that the circuit can achieve 88 dB dc-gain while exhibiting up to 1 GHz gain-bandwidth product (GBP). The stability of the design was guaranteed with an 82-degree phase margin while 214 ns optimal shaping time was extracted for low-power purposes. The robustness of the design against radiations was performed and the amplitude resolution of the proposed front-end was controlled at 1.87% FWHM (full width half maximum). The circuit has been designed to handle up to 280 fC input charge pulses with 2 pF maximum sensor capacitance. In good agreement with the analytical calculations, simulations outcomes were validated by post-layout simulations results, which provided a baseline gain of 546.56 mV/MeV and 920.66 mV/MeV, respectively, for the CSA and the shaping module while the ENC (Equivalent Noise Charge) of the device was controlled at 37.6 e - at 0 pF with a noise slope of 16.32 e - /pF. Moreover, the proposed circuit dissipates very low power which is only 8.72 µW from a 3.3 V supply and the compact layout occupied just 0.0205 mm 2 die area.

A capacitive electromyography (cEMG) biomedical sensor measures the EMG signal from human body through capacitive coupling methodology. It has the flexibility to be insulated by different types of materials. Each type of insulator will yield a unique skin-electrode capacitance which determine the performance of a cEMG biomedical sensor. Most of the insulator being explored are solid and non-breathable which cause perspiration in a long-term EMG measurement process. This research aims to explore the porous medical bandages such as micropore, gauze, and crepe bandage to be used as an insulator of a cEMG biomedical sensor. These materials are breathable and hypoallergenic. Their unique properties and characteristics have been reviewed respectively. A 50 Hz digital notch filter was developed and implemented in the EMG measurement system design to further enhance the performance of these porous medical bandage insulated cEMG biomedical sensors. A series of experimental verifications such as noise floor characterization, EMG signals measurement, and performance correlation were done on all these sensors. The micropore insulated cEMG biomedical sensor yielded the lowest noise floor amplitude of 2.44 mV and achieved the highest correlation coefficient result in comparison with the EMG signals captured by the conventional wet contact electrode.

The first measurement of transverse-spin-dependent azimuthal asymmetries in the pion-induced Drell-Yan (DY) process is reported. We use the CERN SPS 190  GeV/c π^{-} beam and a transversely polarized ammonia target. Three azimuthal asymmetries giving access to different transverse-momentum-dependent (TMD) parton distribution functions (PDFs) are extracted using dimuon events with invariant mass between 4.3  GeV/c^{2} and 8.5  GeV/c^{2}. Within the experimental uncertainties, the observed sign of the Sivers asymmetry is found to be consistent with the fundamental prediction of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) that the Sivers TMD PDFs extracted from DY have a sign opposite to the one extracted from semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering (SIDIS) data. We present two other asymmetries originating from the pion Boer-Mulders TMD PDFs convoluted with either the nucleon transversity or pretzelosity TMD PDFs. A recent COMPASS SIDIS measurement was obtained at a hard scale comparable to that of these DY results. This opens the way for possible tests of fundamental QCD universality predictions.

This paper examines the provision of integrated advanced dementia care within seven European countries and critically reviews the potential contribution of the Prudent Healthcare perspective as a starting point for reform. Progressive efforts to innovate, promote quality and integrate care are tempered with the reality of resource constraints. Some policy makers in Europe and North America have turned their attention to the principles of Prudent Healthcare as a potential mechanism to maximise benefits for patients within available resources. As dementia progresses, living well requires increasing levels of support and care, people living with advanced dementia have complex health and social care needs, are highly dependent on others but are not yet at the terminal end stage of the condition. People with advanced dementia can benefit from a dementia specific palliative approach to care ( Palliare ), that helps them to live the best life possible for the months and often years they live with advanced dementia. It is also highly desirable to align policy innovations with integrated palliative care practice models and the education of the dementia workforce to accelerate informed improvements in advanced dementia care. There may be some coherence, at least superficially between Prudent Healthcare and integrated palliative care models such as Palliare . It is argued that for successful implementation, both require practitioners to be equipped with knowledge and skills and be empowered to deliver high quality care often within impoverished care environments. Adoption of the prudent perspective will however require development of a repertoire of approaches to hear the voice or proxy voice of people living with advanced dementia and to commit to the development and implementation of new evidence for advanced dementia practice. Evidence informing this policy debate draws upon contemporary literature and policy and the findings from research activities undertaken by the Palliare project supported through the Erasmus+ K2 Strategic Partnerships funding programme.

The COMPASS Collaboration at CERN has measured diffractive dissociation of 190  GeV/c pions into the π(-)π(-)π(+) final state using a stationary hydrogen target. A partial-wave analysis (PWA) was performed in bins of 3π mass and four-momentum transfer using the isobar model and the so far largest PWA model consisting of 88 waves. A narrow peak is observed in the f0(980)π channel with spin, parity and C-parity quantum numbers J(PC)=1(++). We present a resonance-model study of a subset of the spin-density matrix selecting 3π states with J(PC)=2(++) and 4(++) decaying into ρ(770)π and with J(PC)=1(++) decaying into f0(980)π. We identify a new a1 meson with mass (1414(-13)(+15))  MeV/c2 and width (153(-23)(+8))  MeV/c2. Within the final states investigated in our analysis, we observe the new a1(1420) decaying only into f0(980)π, suggesting its exotic nature.

The COMPASS collaboration at CERN has investigated pion Compton scattering, π(-)γ→π(-)γ, at center-of-mass energy below 3.5 pion masses. The process is embedded in the reaction π(-)Ni→π(-)γNi, which is initiated by 190 GeV pions impinging on a nickel target. The exchange of quasireal photons is selected by isolating the sharp Coulomb peak observed at smallest momentum transfers, Q(2)<0.0015  (GeV/c)(2). From a sample of 63,000 events, the pion electric polarizability is determined to be α(π)=(2.0±0.6(stat)±0.7(syst))×10(-4)  fm(3) under the assumption α(π)=-β(π), which relates the electric and magnetic dipole polarizabilities. It is the most precise measurement of this fundamental low-energy parameter of strong interaction that has been addressed since long by various methods with conflicting outcomes. While this result is in tension with previous dedicated measurements, it is found in agreement with the expectation from chiral perturbation theory. An additional measurement replacing pions by muons, for which the cross-section behavior is unambiguously known, was performed for an independent estimate of the systematic uncertainty.

The COMPASS Collaboration at CERN has investigated the π- γ → π- π- π+ reaction at center-of-momentum energy below five pion masses, sqrt[s]<5m(π), embedded in the Primakoff reaction of 190 GeV pions impinging on a lead target. Exchange of quasireal photons is selected by isolating the sharp Coulomb peak observed at smallest momentum transfers, t'<0.001  GeV2/c2. Using partial-wave analysis techniques, the scattering intensity of Coulomb production described in terms of chiral dynamics and its dependence on the 3π-invariant mass m(3π)=sqrt[s] were extracted. The absolute cross section was determined in seven bins of sqrt[s] with an overall precision of 20%. At leading order, the result is found to be in good agreement with the prediction of chiral perturbation theory over the whole energy range investigated.

The COMPASS experiment at the CERN SPS has studied the diffractive dissociation of negative pions into the π- π- π+ final state using a 190  GeV/c pion beam hitting a lead target. A partial wave analysis has been performed on a sample of 420,000 events taken at values of the squared 4-momentum transfer t' between 0.1 and 1  GeV2/c2. The well-known resonances a1(1260), a2(1320), and π2(1670) are clearly observed. In addition, the data show a significant natural-parity exchange production of a resonance with spin-exotic quantum numbers J(PC)=1-+ at 1.66  GeV/c2 decaying to ρπ. The resonant nature of this wave is evident from the mass-dependent phase differences to the J(PC)=2-+ and 1++ waves. From a mass-dependent fit a resonance mass of (1660±10(-64)(+0))  MeV/c2 and a width of (269±21(-64)(+42))  MeV/c2 are deduced, with an intensity of (1.7±0.2)% of the total intensity.

First measurements of the Collins and Sivers asymmetries of charged hadrons produced in deep-inelastic scattering of muons on a transversely polarized 6LiD target are presented. The data were taken in 2002 with the COMPASS spectrometer using the muon beam of the CERN SPS at 160 GeV/c. The Collins asymmetry turns out to be compatible with zero, as does the measured Sivers asymmetry within the present statistical errors.

In a randomized controlled clinical trial, 14 patients requiring resection of tumors were divided in two groups: one group was anesthetized with nitrous oxide [67% N2O-33% O2 (vol/vol)] and the other with propofol. Two other groups of subjects were studied: a group of patients that was undergoing orthopedic procedures and was anesthetized with nitrous oxide [67% N2O-33% O2 (vol/vol)] and a control group (fasted for 10 hrs and no anesthesia). In patients requiring resection of tumors, the blood L-methionine concentration was significantly lower and the blood amino acid pattern was significantly affected after the administration of nitrous oxide (120-310 mins) compared with values after the induction of anesthesia and before surgery. The administration of propofol (120-240 mins) did not produce any of these changes. No patients required blood transfusion during surgery, and the patients had not previously been treated with cancer chemotherapeutic agents. The administration of nitrous oxide (60-150 mins) to patients undergoing orthopedic procedures did not affect blood L-methionine. It is concluded that the administration of nitrous oxide to cancer-bearing patients, but not to those undergoing orthopedic surgery, produced major changes in amino acid metabolism; therefore, consideration should be given to the avoidance of exposure of cancer patients to nitrous oxide.