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Background: COVID-19 outbreak was first reported in the Wuhan city in 2019, causing the whole world to undergo a period of lockdown to curtail the disease. This affected education and examination of medical students across the world including Pakistan. Objective: To know the impact of COVID-19 on the medical education and future of medical examination, from medical students’ perspective. Methods: An online qualitative survey was conducted among the medical students of different medical colleges of Pakistan from 20th October 2021 to 15th November 2021. Google forms were used to collect data. Informed consent was obtained at the start of the survey. SPSS version 22 was used for data analysis. Results: Our study had a response rate of 99.7% with 4548 respondents, ranging from the first year to final year MBBS. The highest number of respondents were from 1st-year MBBS and accounted for 25.4% (n=1153 responses). 93% (n=4254) of the respondents agreed that lockdown had impacted their education, 85.1% (n=3870) were having online classes and only 9.6% (n=436) were satisfied with online education. 65% (n=2998) considered online education to be an ineffective teaching method. Only 25% of the respondents (n=1137) wanted to be examined online whereas 34.5% (n=1571) were of the view that online viva was an ineffective method of examination. 41% (n=1897) of the respondents considered that students should be promoted without examination during the COVID-19 pandemic and 41.5% (n=1886) thought that students who had passed the written exam should be promoted without viva. 46% (n=2117) favored the rational method of exam. Conclusions: Our data showed that the majority of students having online classes were not satisfied with this mode of education due to financial constraints, connectivity issues and quality of lectures and these problems need to be resolved.

Introduction Acute appendicitis is a leading cause of abdominal conditions in emergency departments. Evidence from research studies has indicated the efficacies of surgical procedures involving appendectomies. However, in Pakistan, there is a paucity of information regarding the epidemiology, clinical presentations, and surgical management of acute appendicitis. Objective This paper aims to report the epidemiologic data and findings of surgical management of acute appendicitis in Lahore General Hospital (LGH). The data was based on our two-year experiences of appendectomies in the hospital. Materials and methodology Data were collected retrospectively. The patients underwent appendectomies performed by the team of surgeons of Surgical Unit 1 of LGH in the Accident and Emergency (AE) Department from July 2019 to October 2021. Results The total number of patients was 506, and the mean age was 26.8. Males (67.29%) and young adults aged 18-34 years were at higher risk of appendicitis. Compared to other surgical procedures performed, open appendectomy and laparoscopic appendectomy operative times were significantly shorter. Histopathology of all the cases showed acute inflammation of the appendix. Discussion Similar to findings from other research studies, the operative time of open appendectomies was shorter (70.6 minutes) in the hospital than the operative time of laparoscopic appendectomies (77 minutes). However, the overall operative times were longer than the operative times reported in some other research studies. Also, contrary to other research findings, open appendectomy (1.22 days) was associated with a longer length of hospital stay than laparoscopic appendectomy (≈1 day). Simple acute appendicitis was the most predominant operation findings (289, 57.1%). Conclusion Compared to other hospitals, the shorter hospital stays/recovery time indicated the high surgical skill of performing open and laparoscopic appendectomies in Lahore General Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.

The quasifree $\overrightarrow{\gamma} d\to\pi^0n(p)$ photon beam asymmetry, $\Sigma$, has been measured at photon energies, $E_\gamma$, from 390 to 610 MeV, corresponding to center of mass energy from 1.271 to 1.424 GeV, for the first time. The data were collected in the A2 hall of the MAMI electron beam facility with the Crystal Ball and TAPS calorimeters covering pion center-of-mass angles from 49 to 148$^\circ$. In this kinematic region, polarization observables are sensitive to contributions from the $\Delta (1232)$ and $N(1440)$ resonances. The extracted values of $\Sigma$ have been compared to predictions based on partial-wave analyses (PWAs) of the existing pion photoproduction database. Our comparison includes the SAID, MAID, and Bonn-Gatchina analyses; while a revised SAID fit, including the new $\Sigma$ measurements, has also been performed. In addition, isospin symmetry is examined as a way to predict $\pi^0n$ photoproduction observables, based on fits to published data in the channels $\pi^0p$, $\pi^+n$, and $\pi^-p$., Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables; fixed 2 glitches

A measurement of the double-polarization observable E for the reaction $$\gamma p\rightarrow \pi ^0 p$$ γ p → π 0 p is reported. The data were taken with the CBELSA/TAPS experiment at the ELSA facility in Bonn using the Bonn frozen-spin butanol (C$$_4$$ 4 H$$_9$$ 9 OH) target, which provided longitudinally-polarized protons. Circularly-polarized photons were produced via bremsstrahlung of longitudinally-polarized electrons. The data cover the photon energy range from $$E_\gamma =600$$ E γ = 600 to 2310 MeV and nearly the complete angular range. The results are compared to and have been included in recent partial wave analyses.

Data on the beam asymmetry Σ in the photoproduction of η mesons off protons are reported for tagged photon energies from 1130 to 1790 MeV (mass range from W=1748 MeV to W=2045 MeV). The data cover the full solid angle that allows for a precise moment analysis. For the first time, a strong cusp effect in a polarization observable has been observed that is an effect of a branch-point singularity at the pη^{'} threshold [E_{γ}=1447 MeV (W=1896 MeV)]. The latest BnGa partial wave analysis includes the new beam asymmetry data and yields a strong indication for the N(1895)1/2^{-} nucleon resonance, demonstrating the importance of including all singularities for a correct determination of partial waves and resonance parameters.

The Compton double-polarization observable \ud Σ\ud 2\ud z\ud has been measured for the first time in the \ud Δ\ud (\ud 1232\ud )\ud resonance region using a circularly polarized photon beam incident on a longitudinally polarized proton target at the Mainz Microtron. This paper reports these results, together with the model-dependent extraction of four proton spin polarizabilities from fits to additional asymmetry data using either a dispersion relation calculation or a baryon chiral perturbation theory calculations with the weighted average of these two fits resulting in \ud γ\ud E\ud 1\ud E\ud 1\ud =\ud −\ud 2.87\ud ±\ud 0.52\ud ,\ud \ud γ\ud M\ud 1\ud M\ud 1\ud =\ud 2.70\ud ±\ud 0.43\ud ,\ud \ud γ\ud E\ud 1\ud M\ud 2\ud =\ud −\ud 0.85\ud ±\ud 0.72\ud , and \ud γ\ud M\ud 1\ud E\ud 2\ud =\ud 2.04\ud ±\ud 0.43\ud , in units of \ud 10\ud −\ud 4\ud fm\ud 4\ud .

We revisit Moravcsik's theorem on the unique extraction of amplitudes from polarization observables, which has been originally published in 1985. The proof is (re-) written in a more formal and detailed way and the theorem is corrected for the special case of an odd number of amplitudes (this case was treated incorrectly in the original publication). Moravcsik's theorem, in the modified form, can be applied in principle to the extraction of an arbitrary number of $N$ helicity amplitudes. The uniqueness theorem is then applied to hadronic reactions involving particles with spin. The most basic example is Pion-Nucleon scattering ($N=2$), the first non-trivial example is pseudoscalar meson photoproduction ($N=4$) and the most technically involved case treated here is given by pseudoscalar meson electroproduction ($N=6$). The application of Moravcsik's theorem to electroproduction yields new results, which for the first time provide insights into the structure and content of complete sets for this particular process. The uniqueness-statements for the various reactions are compared and an attempt is made to recognize general patterns, which emerge under the application of the theorem., 35 pages, 12 figures; Version 2 has been accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C

We report a measurement of the spin polarization of the recoiling neutron in deuterium photodisintegration, utilizing a new large acceptance polarimeter within the Crystal Ball at MAMI. The measured photon energy range of 300-700 MeV provides the first measurement of recoil neutron polarization at photon energies where the quark substructure of the deuteron plays a role, thereby providing important new constraints on photodisintegration mechanisms. A very high neutron polarization in a narrow structure centered around E_{γ}∼570 MeV is observed, which is inconsistent with current theoretical predictions employing nucleon resonance degrees of freedom. A Legendre polynomial decomposition suggests this behavior could be related to the excitation of the d^{*}(2380) hexaquark.

Data on the beam asymmetry Σ in the photoproduction of η mesons off protons are reported for tagged photon energies from 1130 to 1790 MeV (mass range from W=1748 MeV to W=2045 MeV). The data cover the full solid angle that allows for a precise moment analysis. For the first time, a strong cusp effect in a polarization observable has been observed that is an effect of a branch-point singularity at the pη^{'} threshold [E_{γ}=1447 MeV (W=1896 MeV)]. The latest BnGa partial wave analysis includes the new beam asymmetry data and yields a strong indication for the N(1895)1/2^{-} nucleon resonance, demonstrating the importance of including all singularities for a correct determination of partial waves and resonance parameters.

For photoproduction reactions with final states consisting of two pseudoscalar mesons and a spin-1/2 baryon, 8 complex amplitudes need to be determined uniquely. A modified version of Moravcsik's theorem is employed for these reactions, resulting in slightly over-complete sets of polarization observables that are able to determine the amplitudes uniquely. Further steps were taken to reduce the found sets to minimal complete sets. As a final result, multiple minimal complete sets without any remaining ambiguities are presented for the first time. These sets consist of $2N=16$ observables, containing only one triple polarization observable., Comment: updated supplementary material

The γ n → π 0 n differential cross section evaluated for 27 energy bins span the photon-energy range 290–813 MeV ( W = 1.195 –1.553 GeV) and the pion c.m. polar production angles, ranging from 18 ∘ to 162 ∘ , making use of model-dependent nuclear corrections to extract π 0 production data on the neutron from measurements on the deuteron target. Additionally, the total photoabsorption cross section was measured. The tagged photon beam produced by the 883 MeV electron beam of the Mainz Microtron MAMI was used for the π 0 -meson production. Our accumulation of 3.6 × 10 6 γ n → π 0 n events allowed a detailed study of the reaction dynamics. Our data are in reasonable agreement with previous A2 measurements and extend them to lower energies. The data are compared with predictions of previous said, maid, and BnGa partial-wave analyses and to the latest said fit MA19 that included our data. Selected photon-decay amplitudes N ∗ → γ n at the resonance poles are determined for the first time.

This work measured $d\sigma/d\Omega$ for neutral kaon photoproduction reactions from threshold up to a c.m.\ energy of 1855MeV, focussing specifically on the $\gamma p\rightarrow K^0\Sigma^+$, $\gamma n\rightarrow K^0\Lambda$, and $\gamma n\rightarrow K^0 \Sigma^0$ reactions. Our results for $\gamma n\rightarrow K^0 \Sigma^0$ are the first-ever measurements for that reaction. These data will provide insight into the properties of $N^*$ resonances and, in particular, will lead to an improved knowledge about those states that couple only weakly to the $\pi N$ channel. Integrated cross sections were extracted by fitting the differential cross sections for each reaction as a series of Legendre polynomials and our results are compared with prior experimental results and theoretical predictions., Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, 7 tables

A measurement of the double-polarization observable E for the reaction \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\gamma p\rightarrow \pi ^0 p$$\end{document}γp→π0p is reported. The data were taken with the CBELSA/TAPS experiment at the ELSA facility in Bonn using the Bonn frozen-spin butanol (C\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$_4$$\end{document}4H\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$_9$$\end{document}9OH) target, which provided longitudinally-polarized protons. Circularly-polarized photons were produced via bremsstrahlung of longitudinally-polarized electrons. The data cover the photon energy range from \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$E_\gamma =600$$\end{document}Eγ=600 to 2310 MeV and nearly the complete angular range. The results are compared to and have been included in recent partial wave analyses.

The polarization observables T , E , P , H , and G in photoproduction of η mesons off protons are measured for photon energies from threshold to W = 2400 MeV (T), 2280 MeV (E), 1620 MeV ( P , H ), or 1820 MeV (G), covering nearly the full solid angle. The data are compared to predictions from the SAID, MAID, JuBo, and BnGa partial-wave analyses. A refit within the BnGa approach including further data yields precise branching ratios for the Nη decay of nucleon resonances. A Nη-branching ratio of 0.33 ± 0.04 for N ( 1650 ) 1 / 2 − is found, which reduces the large and controversially discussed Nη-branching ratio difference of the two lowest mass J P = 1 / 2 − -resonances significantly.

The beam-helicity asymmetry was measured, for the first time, in photoproduction of $\pi^{0}\eta$ pairs on carbon, aluminum, and lead, with the A2 experimental setup at MAMI. The results are compared to an earlier measurement on a free proton and to the corresponding theoretical calculations. The Mainz model is used to predict the beam-helicity asymmetry for the nuclear targets. The present results indicate that the photoproduction mechanism for $\pi^{0}\eta$ pairs on nuclei is similar to photoproduction on a free nucleon. This process is dominated by the $D_{33}$ partial wave with the $\eta\Delta(1232)$ intermediate state., Comment: Accepted for publication in Physics Letters B (2020)

In order to gain a better understanding of the dynamics inside the nucleon and of the non-perturbative regime of QCD, the nucleon excitation spectra and the properties of nucleon resonances are investigated. An essential experimental tool to achieve this goal is the study of different photoproduction reactions. Partial wave analyses are performed in order to obtain information about the contributing resonances. A complete experiment is needed to extract the underlying amplitudes unambiguously, which requires the measurement of carefully chosen single and double polarization observables in addition to the unpolarized cross section. The CBELSA/TAPS experiment in Bonn offers the possibility to measure several polarization observables using a linearly or circularly polarized photon beam and with a longitudinally or transversely polarized target. This contribution gives an overview of recently measured polarization observables in different final states. The impact of the new data is discussed.

The production of $\eta^{\prime}$ mesons in coincidence with forward-going protons has been studied in photon-induced reactions on 12C and on a liquid hydrogen (LH2) target for incoming photon energies of 1.3-2.6 GeV at the electron accelerator ELSA. The $\eta^{\prime}$ mesons have been identified via the $\eta^{\prime} \rightarrow \pi^{0} \pi^{0}\eta \rightarrow 6 \gamma$ decay registered with the CBELSA/TAPS detector system. Coincident protons have been identified in the MiniTAPS BaF2 array at polar angles of $2^{\circ} \le \theta_{p} \le 11^{\circ}$ . Under these kinematic constraints the $\eta^{\prime}$ mesons are produced with relatively low kinetic energy ( $\approx 150$ MeV) since the coincident protons take over most of the momentum of the incident-photon beam. For the C-target this allows the determination of the real part of the $\eta^{\prime}$ -carbon potential at low meson momenta by comparing with collision model calculations of the $\eta^{\prime}$ kinetic energy distribution and excitation function. Fitting the latter data for $\eta^{\prime}$ mesons going backwards in the center-of-mass system yields a potential depth of $V = -(44 \pm 16(stat) \pm 15(syst))$ MeV, consistent with earlier determinations of the potential depth in inclusive measurements for average $\eta^{\prime}$ momenta of $\approx 1.1$ GeV/c. Within the experimental uncertainties, there is no indication of a momentum dependence of the $\eta^{\prime}$ -carbon potential. The LH2 data, taken as a reference to check the data analysis and the model calculations, provide differential and integral cross sections in good agreement with previous results for $\eta^{\prime}$ photoproduction off the free proton.

An experimental study of the η′→π0π0η→6γ decay has been conducted with the best up-to-date statistical accuracy, by measuring η′ mesons produced in the γp→η′p reaction with the A2 tagged-photon facility at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. The results obtained for the standard parametrization of the η′→π0π0η matrix element are consistent with the most recent results for η′→ππη decays, but have smaller uncertainties. The available statistics and experimental resolution allowed, for the first time, an observation of a structure below the π+π- mass threshold, the magnitude and sign of which, checked within the framework of the nonrelativistic effective-field theory, demonstrated good agreement with the cusp that was predicted based on the ππ scattering length combination, a0-a2, extracted from K→3π decays.

The largest, at the moment, statistics of 7×106η→3π0 decays, based on 6.2×107η mesons produced in the γp→ηp reaction, has been accumulated by the A2 Collaboration at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. It allowed a detailed study of the η→3π0 dynamics beyond its conventional parametrization with just the quadratic slope parameter α and enabled, for the first time, a measurement of the second-order term and a better understanding of the cusp structure in the neutral decay. The present data are also compared to recent theoretical calculations that predict a nonlinear dependence along the quadratic distance from the Dalitz-plot center.

The data available from the A2 Collaboration at MAMI were analyzed to select the γp→π0ηp reaction on an event-by-event basis, which allows for partial-wave analyses of three-body final states to obtain more reliable results, compared to fits to measured distributions. These data provide the world's best statistical accuracy in the energy range from threshold to Eγ=1.45 GeV, allowing a finer energy binning in the measurement of all observables needed for understanding the reaction dynamics. The results obtained for the measured observables are compared to existing models, and the impact from the new data is checked by the fit with the revised Mainz model.

Background: Non-typhoid salmonella infections are one of the leading food borne infections worldwide. Similarly, ever increasing antimicrobial resistance has become a major problem to animal as well as human health worldwide. Poultry being the single largest animal protein source in Pakistan is one of the major suspects for both these public health concerns. Objective: This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium in commercial poultry flocks of Punjab and to evaluate their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Methods: Specimens were collected from morbid or dead birds suspected for salmonella infection on the basis of clinical signs or post-mortem lesions brought to five poultry diagnostic laboratories in Punjab between 2014 and 2017. The samples were then processed for bacterial isolation and molecular confirmation through PCR. The isolates were then subjected to antibiotic sensitivity test using disc diffusion method. The susceptibility was determined using CLSI guidelines for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The frequencies and percentages were calculated using Epi info. Results: A total of 28150 samples were processed, among them 1.04% (294/28150) were positive. 89.5% (263/294) of the isolates were Salmonella Enteritidis while 10.5% (31/294) were Salmonella Typhimurium. The isolates were most sensitive to Ciprofloxacin and least to doxycycline with 96% (273/294) and 56% (166/294) response rates respectively. 7.8% (23/294) of the isolates were found to be resistant to three or more antibiotics. For other drugs the sensitivity percentages were Gentamicin 86% (254/294), Enrofloxacin 82% (241/294), Amoxicillin 77% (227/294), Norfloxacin 74% (219/294), Colistin 71% (208/294) and Neomycin 67% (197/294). Conclusions: Salmonella isolates were found more sensitive to Ciprofloxacin, followed by Gentamicin, Enrofloxacin and Amoxicillin while the isolates were least sensitive to Doxycycline. [iproc 2018;4(1):e10639]

Important contributions to the study of the excitation spectra of baryons are provided by measurements of polarization observables in reactions that involve particles with spin. Pseudoscalar meson photoproduction poses an example-reaction that has been under intense investigation recently. The extraction of resonance-parameters from the polarization-data in so-called energy-dependent fits, often involving sophisticated reaction- theories and analyzing several reaction-channels at once, represents the state-of-the-art method to get to the spectrum. While yielding important scientific insights, the construction and handling of such models is very sophisticated. The analysis of partial waves at single energies in so-called energy-independent fits represents a simpler problem. However, due to mathematical ambiguities rising exponentially in number with the amount of non-zero partial waves, such analyses still require some experience. In order to obtain first insights into a newly measured polarization dataset, simpler alternatives are desirable. Here we present the very basic method of moment-analysis for pseudoscalar meson photoproduction, which proceeds by analyzing just the angular distributions. The order of the dominant partial waves contributing in the data can be extracted quickly using this method. Furthermore, the coefficients extracted from the angular distributions show interesting composition-patterns in terms of multipoles and allow for instructive comparisons to models. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB/TR16).

The helicity-dependent cross sections for the photoproduction of $\pi^0\eta$ pairs have been measured for the first time. The experiment was performed at the tagged photon facility of the Mainz MAMI accelerator with the combined Crystal Ball - TAPS calorimeter. The experiment used a polarized deuterated butanol target and a circularly polarized photon beam. This arrangement allowed the $\sigma_{1/2}$ (photon and target spin antiparallel) and $\sigma_{3/2}$ (parallel spins) components to be measured for quasi-free production of $\pi^0\eta$ pairs off protons and neutrons. The main finding is that the two helicity components contribute identically, within uncertainties, for both participant protons and neutrons. The absolute couplings for protons and neutrons are also identical. This means that nucleon resonances contributing to this reaction in the investigated energy range have almost equal electromagnetic helicity couplings, $A_{1/2}^{n,p}$ and $A_{3/2}^{n,p}$. Identical couplings for protons and neutrons are typical for $\Delta$ resonances and identical $A_{1/2}$ and $A_{3/2}$ components are only possible for $J\geq 3/2$ states, which constrains possible contributions of nucleon resonances., Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Lett. B

We report the first large-acceptance measurement of the beam–spin asymmetry for deuteron photodisintegration (γ→d→pn) in the photon energy range 420

Photoproduction of mesons off quasi-free nucleons bound in the deuteron allows to study the electromagnetic excitation spectrum of the neutron and the isospin structure of the excitation of nucleon resonances. The database for such reactions is much more sparse than for free proton targets. Single $\pi^0$ photoproduction off quasi-free nucleons from the deuteron was experimentally studied. Nuclear effects were investigated by a comparison of the results for free protons and quasi-free protons and used as a correction for the quasi-free neutron data. The experiment was performed at the tagged photon beam of the Mainz MAMI accelerator for photon energies between 0.45~GeV and 1.4~GeV, using an almost $4\pi$ electromagnetic calorimeter composed of the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors. A complete kinematic reconstruction of the final state removed the effects of Fermi motion. Reaction model predictions and PWA for $\gamma n\rightarrow n\pi^{0}$, based on fits to data for the other isospin channels, disagreed between themselves and no model provided a good description of the new data. The results demonstrate clearly the importance of a measurement of the fully neutral final state for the isospin decomposition of the cross section. Model refits, for example from the Bonn-Gatchina analysis, show that the new and the previous data for the other three isospin channels can be simultaneously described when the contributions of several partial waves are modified. The results are also relevant for the suppression of the higher resonance bumps in total photoabsorption on nuclei, which are not well understood., Comment: excepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C

The reactions γp→ηp and γp→η′p are measured from their thresholds up to the center-of-mass energy W=1.96 GeV with the tagged-photon facilities at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. Differential cross sections are obtained with unprecedented statistical accuracy, providing fine energy binning and full production-angle coverage. A strong cusp is observed in the total cross section for η photoproduction at the energies in the vicinity of the η′ threshold, W=1896 MeV (Eγ=1447 MeV). Within the framework of a revised ηMAID isobar model, the cusp, in connection with a steep rise of the η′ total cross section from its threshold, can only be explained by a strong coupling of the poorly known N(1895)1/2− state to both ηp and η′p. Including the new high-accuracy results in the ηMAID fit to available η and η′ photoproduction data allows the determination of the N(1895)1/2− properties.

The double-polarization observable $E$ and the helicity-dependent cross sections $\sigma_{1/2}$ and $\sigma_{3/2}$ have been measured for the first time for single $\pi^{0}$ photoproduction from protons and neutrons bound in the deuteron at the electron accelerator facility MAMI in Mainz, Germany. The experiment used a circularly polarized photon beam and a longitudinally polarized deuterated butanol target. The reaction products, recoil nucleons and decay photons from the $\pi^0$ meson were detected with the Crystal Ball and TAPS electromagnetic calorimeters. Effects from nuclear Fermi motion were removed by a kinematic reconstruction of the $\pi^{0}N$ final state. A comparison to data measured with a free proton target showed that the absolute scale of the cross sections is significantly modified by nuclear final-state interaction (FSI) effects. However, there is no significant effect on the asymmetry $E$ since the $\sigma_{1/2}$ and $\sigma_{3/2}$ components appear to be influenced in a similar way. Thus, the best approximation of the two helicity-dependent cross sections for the free neutron is obtained by combining the asymmetry $E$ measured with quasi-free neutrons and the unpolarized cross section corrected for FSI effects under the assumption that the FSI effects are similar for neutrons and protons., Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Lett. B

Precise helicity-dependent cross sections and the double-polarization observable E were measured for η photoproduction from quasifree protons and neutrons bound in the deuteron. The η→2γ and η→3π0→6γ decay modes were used to optimize the statistical quality of the data and to estimate systematic uncertainties. The measurement used the A2 detector setup at the tagged photon beam of the electron accelerator MAMI in Mainz. A longitudinally polarized deuterated butanol target was used in combination with a circularly polarized photon beam from bremsstrahlung of a longitudinally polarized electron beam. The reaction products were detected with the electromagnetic calorimeters Crystal Ball and TAPS, which covered 98% of the full solid angle. The results show that the narrow structure observed earlier in the unpolarized excitation function of η photoproduction off the neutron appears only in reactions with antiparallel photon and nucleon spin (σ1/2). It is absent for reactions with parallel spin orientation (σ3/2) and thus very probably related to partial waves with total spin 1/2. The behavior of the angular distributions of the helicity-dependent cross sections was analyzed by fitting them withLegendre polynomials. The results are in good agreement with a model from the Bonn-Gatchina group, which uses an interference of P11 and S11 partial waves to explain the narrow structure.

The Dalitz decays η→e+e-γ and ω→π0e+e- have been measured in the γp→ηp and γp→ωp reactions, respectively, with the A2 tagged-photon facility at the Mainz Microtron. The value obtained for the slope parameter of the electromagnetic transition form factor of η, Λη-2=(1.97±0.11tot)GeV-2, is in good agreement with previous measurements of the η→e+e-γ and η→μ+μ-γ decays. The uncertainty obtained in the value of Λη-2 is lower than in previous results based on the η→e+e-γ decay. The value obtained for the ω slope parameter, Λωπ0-2=(1.99±0.21tot)GeV-2, is somewhat lower than previous measurements based on ω→π0μ+μ-, but the results for the ω transition form factor are in better agreement with theoretical calculations, compared to earlier experiments.

The Dalitz decay π0→e+e−γ has been measured in the γp→π0p reaction with the A2 tagged-photon facility at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. The value obtained for the slope parameter of the π0 electromagnetic transition form factor, aπ=0.030±0.010tot, is in agreement with existing measurements of this decay and with recent theoretical calculations. The uncertainty obtained in the value of aπ is lower than in previous results based on the π0→e+e−γ decay.

Photoproduction of $\eta$ mesons from neutrons} \abstract{Results from measurements of the photoproduction of $\eta$ mesons from quasifree protons and neutrons are summarized. The experiments were performed with the CBELSA/TAPS detector at the electron accelerator ELSA in Bonn using the $\eta\to3\pi^{0}\to6\gamma$ decay. A liquid deuterium target was used for the measurement of total cross sections and angular distributions. The results confirm earlier measurements from Bonn and the MAMI facility in Mainz about the existence of a narrow structure in the excitation function of $\gamma n\rightarrow n\eta$. The current angular distributions show a forward-backward asymmetry, which was previously not seen, but was predicted by model calculations including an additional narrow $P_{11}$ state. Furthermore, data obtained with a longitudinally polarized, deuterated butanol target and a circularly polarized photon beam were analyzed to determine the double polarization observable $E$. Both data sets together were also used to extract the helicity dependent cross sections $\sigma_{1/2}$ and $\sigma_{3/2}$. The narrow structure in the excitation function of $\gamma n\rightarrow n\eta$ appears associated with the helicity-1/2 component of the reaction.

Either from congenital or ischemic problems, difficulties in aortic bypass surgery are usually caused by the unrecognized variation of aortic arch anatomy. Objective: To investigate the frequency and anatomical basis of the aortic arch branching pattern from the world largest hospital. Materials and Methods: Thirty eight adult human preserved cadavers, and one thousand fifty three aortic arches analyzed from images of computerized tomography and aortic angiography were used. Occurrence among gender, branching pattern of the aortic arch was studied; number of branches and distance from their origin to the mid-vertebrae line were measured. Results: In 81.3% of the cases, the main most common brachiocephalic trunk, left common carotid and left subclavian artery originate independently. From the remaining variants of the aortic arch: 13.2% have two branches, an independent left subclavian artery and a common trunk for the brachiocephalic trunk and left common carotid. 4.8% has four branches with the left vertebral artery; 0.4% having the left common carotid artery originating from a common trunk. Any other variation falls within 0.1%. However, a strong significant positive correlation was found between the diameters of left common carotid artery and left subclavian artery. Conclusion: The results in this study provide accurate information on aortic arch variations considered vital for academic purpose, and clinical vascular surgery and a primary data among the Chinese.

The scalar dipole polarizabilities, $\alpha_{E1}$ and $\beta_{M1}$, are fundamental properties related to the internal dynamics of the nucleon. The currently accepted values of the proton polarizabilities were determined by fitting to unpolarized proton Compton scattering cross section data. The measurement of the beam asymmetry $\Sigma_{3}$ in a certain kinematical range provides an alternative approach to the extraction of the scalar polarizabilities. At the Mainz Microtron (MAMI) the beam asymmetry was measured for Compton scattering below pion photoproduction threshold for the first time. The results are compared with model calculations and the influence of the experimental data on the extraction of the scalar polarizabilities is determined.

This work presents a simple method to determine the significant partial wave contributions to experimentally determined observables in pseudoscalar meson photoproduction. First, fits to angular distributions are presented and the maximum orbital angular momentum $\text{L}_{\mathrm{max}}$ needed to achieve a good fit is determined. Then, recent polarization measurements for $\gamma p \rightarrow \pi^{0} p$ from ELSA, GRAAL, JLab and MAMI are investigated according to the proposed method. This method allows us to project high-spin partial wave contributions to any observable as long as the measurement has the necessary statistical accuracy. We show, that high precision and large angular coverage in the polarization data are needed in order to be sensitive to high-spin resonance-states and thereby also for the finding of small resonance contributions. This task can be achieved via interference of these resonances with the well-known states. For the channel $\gamma p \rightarrow \pi^{0} p$, those are the $N(1680)\frac{5}{2}^{+}$ and $\Delta(1950)\frac{7}{2}^{+}$, contributing to the $F$-waves., Comment: 66 pages, 19 figures, 47 tables; Version 2 has been accepted for publication in Eur. Phys. J. A