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Sample records for strong association exists

  1. A toy model to investigate the existence of excitons in the ground state of strongly-correlated semiconductor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karima, H. R.; Majidi, M. A.

    2018-04-01

    Excitons, quasiparticles associated with bound states between an electron and a hole and are typically created when photons with a suitable energy are absorbed in a solid-state material. We propose to study a possible emergence of excitons, created not by photon absorption but the effect of strong electronic correlations. This study is motivated by a recent experimental study of a substrate material SrTiO3 (STO) that reveals strong exitonic signals in its optical conductivity. Here we conjecture that some excitons may already exist in the ground state as a result of the electronic correlations before the additional excitons being created later by photon absorption. To investigate the existence of excitons in the ground state, we propose to study a simple 4-energy-level model that mimics a situation in strongly-correlated semiconductors. The four levels are divided into two groups, lower and upper groups separated by an energy gap, Eg , mimicking the valence and the conduction bands, respectively. Further, we incorporate repulsive Coulomb interactions between the electrons. The model is then solved by exact diagonalization method. Our result shows that the toy model can demonstrate band gap widening or narrowing and the existence of exciton in the ground state depending on interaction parameter values.

  2. <strong>Mini-project>

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Katajainen, Jyrki

    2008-01-01

    In this project the goal is to develop the safe * family of containers for the CPH STL. The containers to be developed should be safer and more reliable than any of the existing implementations. A special focus should be put on strong exception safety since none of the existing prototypes available...

  3. On strongly J -clean rings associated with polynomial identity g ( x =0

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamid Haj seyyed javadi

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available In this paper‎, ‎we introduce the new notion of strongly $J $-clean rings associated with polynomial identity $g(x=0$‎, ‎as a generalization of strongly $ J $-clean rings‎. ‎We denote strongly $J $-clean rings associated with polynomial identity $g(x=0$ by strongly $ g(x $-$J $-clean rings‎. ‎Next‎, ‎we investigate some properties of strongly $ g(x $-$ J $-clean.

  4. Existence of diproton-like particles in 3+1 lattice QCD with two flavors and strong coupling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faria da Veiga, Paulo A.; O'Carroll, Michael; Neto, A. Francisco

    2011-01-01

    Starting from quarks, gluons, and their dynamics, we consider the existence of two-baryon bound states of total isospin I=1 in an imaginary-time formulation of a strongly coupled 3+1-dimensional SU(3) c lattice QCD with two flavors and 4x4 spin matrices, defined using the Wilson action. For a small hopping parameter κ>0 and a much smaller gauge coupling 0 2 . By isospin symmetry, for each diproton there is also a dineutron bound state with the same mass and binding energy. The dominant two-baryon interaction is an energy-independent spatial range-one potential with an O(κ 2 ) strength. There is also an attraction arising from gauge field correlations associated with six overlapping bonds, but it is subdominant. The overall range-one potential results from a quark-antiquark exchange with no meson exchange interpretation (wrong spin indices). The repulsive or attractive nature of the interaction does depend on the isospin and spin of the two-baryon states. A novel representation in term of permanents is obtained for the spin, isospin interaction between the baryons, which is valid for any isospin sector.

  5. Global existence of strong solutions to the three- dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with special boundary conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riley, Douglas A.

    We study the three-dimensional incompressible Navier- Stokes equations in a domain of the form W'×(0,e) . First, we assume W' is a C3 bounded domain and impose no-slip boundary conditions on 6W'×(0,e ) , and periodic conditions on W'×0,e . Physically, this models fluid flow through a pipe with cross-section W' where the inlet and outlet conditions are assumed periodic. Secondly, we assume W'=(0,l4) ×(0,l5) and impose periodic boundary conditions. This problem is of interest mathematically, and has been more widely considered than the pipe flow problem. For both sets of boundary conditions, we show that a strong solution exists for all time with conditions on the initial data and forcing. We start by recalling that if the forcing function and initial condition do not depend on x3, then a global strong solution exists which also does not depend on x3. Here (x1,x2,x3) ∈W≡W'×( 0,e) . With this observation as motivation, and using an additive decomposition introduced by Raugel and Sell, we split the initial data and forcing into a portion independent of x3 and a remainder. In our first result, we impose a smallness condition on the remainder and assume the forcing function is square- integrable in time as a function into L2(W) . With these assumptions, we prove a global existence theorem that does not require a smallness condition on e or on the portion of the initial condition and forcing independent of x3. However, these quantities do affect the allowable size of the remainder. For our second result, we assume the forcing is only bounded in time as a function into L2(W) . In this case, we need a smallness condition on the initial data, the forcing, and e to obtain global existence. The interesting observation is that the allowable sizes for the initial data and forcing grow as e-->0 . Thus, we obtain a `thin-domain' result as originally obtained by Raugel and Sell. In fact, our results allow the portion of the initial data and forcing independent of x3 to

  6. Strong association between in-migration and HIV prevalence in urban sub-Saharan Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voeten, Hélène A C M; Vissers, Debby C J; Gregson, Simon; Zaba, Basia; White, Richard G; de Vlas, Sake J; Habbema, J Dik F

    2010-04-01

    Enormous variation exists in HIV prevalence between countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The contribution of migration to the spread of HIV has long been recognized, but its effect at the population level has never been assessed. In this ecological analysis, we explore how much variation in HIV prevalence in urban sub-Saharan Africa is explained by in-migration. We performed a linear regression to analyze the association between the proportion of recent in-migrants and HIV prevalence for men and women in urban areas, using 60 data points from 28 sub-Saharan African countries between 1987 and 2005. We found a strong association between recent in-migration and HIV prevalence for women (Pearson R = 57%, P Africa (R = 50%, P = 0.003). For both genders, the association was strongest between 1985 and 1994, slightly weaker between 1995 and 1999, and nonexistent as from 2000. The overall association for both men and women was not confounded by the developmental indicators GNI per capita, income inequalities, or adult literacy. Migration explains much of the variation in HIV spread in urban areas of sub-Saharan Africa, especially before the year 2000, after which HIV prevalences started to level off in many countries. Our findings suggest that migration is an important factor in the spread of HIV, especially in rapidly increasing epidemics. This may be of relevance to the current HIV epidemics in China and India.

  7. Abdominal obesity is strongly associated to blood pressure in young Mexicans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urquidez Romero, Rene; Murguía Romero, Miguel; Esparza Romero, Julián; Díaz Torres, Beatriz Araceli; Rodríguez Tadeo, Alejandra; Medrano Donlucas, Gabriel; Ramos Jiménez, Arnulfo; Wall Medrano, Abraham; Gallardo Ortíz, Itzell A; Tapia Pancardo, Diana C Tapia-Pancardo C; Méndez Cruz, A René; Jiménez Flores, J Rafael; Villalobos Molina, Rafael

    2017-03-30

    The objective of this study was to determine associations between abdominal obesity (AOb) and the other components of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in young Mexicans in a cross-sectional survey completed during a 4 year period. This cross-sectional study reports on components and prevalence of MetS by using Alberti et al. (16) criteria, as well as association between AOb and elevated blood pressure (BP) of 2,993 Mexican university students, ages 17 to 25 years (66% women) from central and northern Mexico, over a 4-year survey (2010-2013). The most prevalent MetS components in the total sample were low HDL-C concentration (43.6%) and AOb (41.1%). MetS prevalence was 11.8%, more men than women were classified with MetS (14.3% vs. 10.5%, p < 0.01). BP was the MetS component with the lowest prevalence (8.6%). A strong association between AOb and altered BP with in both men and women was found (OR 4.3, IC95% 2.5-7.4). Even BP was the component with the lowest prevalence, AOb was more strongly associated with it. This fact, could explain the prevalence of hypertension among young Mexican adults.

  8. Linear operator inequalities for strongly stable weakly regular linear systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Curtain, RF

    2001-01-01

    We consider the question of the existence of solutions to certain linear operator inequalities (Lur'e equations) for strongly stable, weakly regular linear systems with generating operators A, B, C, 0. These operator inequalities are related to the spectral factorization of an associated Popov

  9. Maximum Likelihood Joint Tracking and Association in Strong Clutter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonid I. Perlovsky

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available We have developed a maximum likelihood formulation for a joint detection, tracking and association problem. An efficient non-combinatorial algorithm for this problem is developed in case of strong clutter for radar data. By using an iterative procedure of the dynamic logic process “from vague-to-crisp” explained in the paper, the new tracker overcomes the combinatorial complexity of tracking in highly-cluttered scenarios and results in an orders-of-magnitude improvement in signal-to-clutter ratio.

  10. Existence of a virtual cathode close to a strongly electron emissive wall in low density plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tierno, S. P.; Donoso, J. M.; Domenech-Garret, J. L.; Conde, L.

    2016-01-01

    The interaction between an electron emissive wall, electrically biased in a plasma, is revisited through a simple fluid model. We search for realistic conditions of the existence of a non-monotonic plasma potential profile with a virtual cathode as it is observed in several experiments. We mainly focus our attention on thermionic emission related to the operation of emissive probes for plasma diagnostics, although most conclusions also apply to other electron emission processes. An extended Bohm criterion is derived involving the ratio between the two different electron densities at the potential minimum and at the background plasma. The model allows a phase-diagram analysis, which confirms the existence of the non-monotonic potential profiles with a virtual cathode. This analysis shows that the formation of the potential well critically depends on the emitted electron current and on the velocity at the sheath edge of cold ions flowing from the bulk plasma. As a consequence, a threshold value of the governing parameter is required, in accordance to the physical nature of the electron emission process. The latter is a threshold wall temperature in the case of thermionic electrons. Experimental evidence supports our numerical calculations of this threshold temperature. Besides this, the potential well becomes deeper with increasing electron emission, retaining a fraction of the released current which limits the extent of the bulk plasma perturbation. This noninvasive property would explain the reliable measurements of plasma potential by using the floating potential method of emissive probes operating in the so-called strong emission regime.

  11. Existence of a virtual cathode close to a strongly electron emissive wall in low density plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tierno, S. P.; Donoso, J. M.; Domenech-Garret, J. L.; Conde, L.

    2016-01-01

    The interaction between an electron emissive wall, electrically biased in a plasma, is revisited through a simple fluid model. We search for realistic conditions of the existence of a non-monotonic plasma potential profile with a virtual cathode as it is observed in several experiments. We mainly focus our attention on thermionic emission related to the operation of emissive probes for plasma diagnostics, although most conclusions also apply to other electron emission processes. An extended Bohm criterion is derived involving the ratio between the two different electron densities at the potential minimum and at the background plasma. The model allows a phase-diagram analysis, which confirms the existence of the non-monotonic potential profiles with a virtual cathode. This analysis shows that the formation of the potential well critically depends on the emitted electron current and on the velocity at the sheath edge of cold ions flowing from the bulk plasma. As a consequence, a threshold value of the governing parameter is required, in accordance to the physical nature of the electron emission process. The latter is a threshold wall temperature in the case of thermionic electrons. Experimental evidence supports our numerical calculations of this threshold temperature. Besides this, the potential well becomes deeper with increasing electron emission, retaining a fraction of the released current which limits the extent of the bulk plasma perturbation. This noninvasive property would explain the reliable measurements of plasma potential by using the floating potential method of emissive probes operating in the so-called strong emission regime

  12. Existence of a virtual cathode close to a strongly electron emissive wall in low density plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tierno, S. P., E-mail: sp.tierno@upm.es; Donoso, J. M.; Domenech-Garret, J. L.; Conde, L. [Department of Applied Physics, E.T.S.I. Aeronáutica y del Espacio. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid (Spain)

    2016-01-15

    The interaction between an electron emissive wall, electrically biased in a plasma, is revisited through a simple fluid model. We search for realistic conditions of the existence of a non-monotonic plasma potential profile with a virtual cathode as it is observed in several experiments. We mainly focus our attention on thermionic emission related to the operation of emissive probes for plasma diagnostics, although most conclusions also apply to other electron emission processes. An extended Bohm criterion is derived involving the ratio between the two different electron densities at the potential minimum and at the background plasma. The model allows a phase-diagram analysis, which confirms the existence of the non-monotonic potential profiles with a virtual cathode. This analysis shows that the formation of the potential well critically depends on the emitted electron current and on the velocity at the sheath edge of cold ions flowing from the bulk plasma. As a consequence, a threshold value of the governing parameter is required, in accordance to the physical nature of the electron emission process. The latter is a threshold wall temperature in the case of thermionic electrons. Experimental evidence supports our numerical calculations of this threshold temperature. Besides this, the potential well becomes deeper with increasing electron emission, retaining a fraction of the released current which limits the extent of the bulk plasma perturbation. This noninvasive property would explain the reliable measurements of plasma potential by using the floating potential method of emissive probes operating in the so-called strong emission regime.

  13. Postural disorders and spatial neglect in stroke patients: a strong association.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérennou, Dominic

    2006-01-01

    In this paper we analyse the arguments for a strong association between spatial neglect and postural disorders and attempt to better understand the mechanisms which underlie that. We first provide a general overview of the available tools for a rational assessment of postural control in a clinical context. We then analyse the arguments in favour of a close relationship, although not necessarily causal, between spatial neglect and: 1) body orientation with respect to gravity (including verticality perception i.e. the visual vertical, the haptic vertical, and the postural vertical); 2) body stabilisation with respect to the base of support; 3) posturographic features of stroke patients; 4) and finally their postural disability in daily life. This second part of the paper is based both on the literature review and on results of our current research. Neglect patients show a dramatic postural disability, due both to problems in body orientation with respect to gravity and to problems in body stabilisation. It might be that these problems are partly caused by a neglect phenomenon bearing on graviceptive (somaesthetic > vestibular) and visual information serving postural control. This could correspond to a kind of postural neglect involving both the bodily and nonbodily domains of spatial neglect. The existence of distorsion(s) in the body scheme are also probably involved, especially to explain the weight-bearing asymmetry in standing, and probably an impaired multisegmental postural coordination leading to an impaired body stabilisation. The present paper explains why neglect patients show longer/worse recovery of postural-walking autonomy than other stroke patients.

  14. Nature and Age of Neighbours Matter: Interspecific Associations among Tree Species Exist and Vary across Life Stages in Tropical Forests.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alicia Ledo

    Full Text Available Detailed information about interspecific spatial associations among tropical tree species is scarce, and hence the ecological importance of those associations may have been underestimated. However, they can play a role in community assembly and species diversity maintenance. This study investigated the spatial dependence between pairs of species. First, the spatial associations (spatial attraction and spatial repulsion that arose between species were examined. Second, different sizes of trees were considered in order to evaluate whether the spatial relationships between species are constant or vary during the lifetime of individuals. Third, the consistency of those spatial associations with the species-habitat associations found in previous studies was assessed. Two different tropical ecosystems were investigated: a montane cloud forest and a lowland moist forest. The results showed that spatial associations among species exist, and these vary among life stages and species. The rarity of negative spatial interactions suggested that exclusive competition was not common in the studied forests. On the other hand, positive interactions were common, and the results of this study strongly suggested that habitat associations were not the only cause of spatial attraction among species. If this is true, habitat associations and density dependence are not the only mechanisms that explain species distribution and diversity; other ecological interactions, such as facilitation among species, may also play a role. These spatial associations could be important in the assembly of tropical tree communities and forest succession, and should be taken into account in future studies.

  15. The moduli and gravitino (non)-problems in models with strongly stabilized moduli

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evans, Jason L.; Olive, Keith A.; Garcia, Marcos A.G.

    2014-01-01

    In gravity mediated models and in particular in models with strongly stabilized moduli, there is a natural hierarchy between gaugino masses, the gravitino mass and moduli masses: m 1/2 << m 3/2 << m φ . Given this hierarchy, we show that 1) moduli problems associated with excess entropy production from moduli decay and 2) problems associated with moduli/gravitino decays to neutralinos are non-existent. Placed in an inflationary context, we show that the amplitude of moduli oscillations are severely limited by strong stabilization. Moduli oscillations may then never come to dominate the energy density of the Universe. As a consequence, moduli decay to gravitinos and their subsequent decay to neutralinos need not overpopulate the cold dark matter density

  16. Marital Expectations in Strong African American Marriages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaterlaus, J Mitchell; Skogrand, Linda; Chaney, Cassandra; Gahagan, Kassandra

    2017-12-01

    The current exploratory study utilized a family strengths framework to identify marital expectations in 39 strong African American heterosexual marriages. Couples reflected on their marital expectations over their 10 or more years of marriage. Three themes emerged through qualitative analysis and the participants' own words were used in the presentation of the themes. African Americans indicated that there was growth in marital expectations over time, with marital expectations often beginning with unrealistic expectations that grew into more realistic expectations as their marriages progressed. Participants also indicated that core expectations in strong African American marriages included open communication, congruent values, and positive treatment of spouse. Finally, participants explained there is an "I" in marriage as they discussed the importance of autonomy within their marital relationships. Results are discussed in association with existing research and theory. © 2016 Family Process Institute.

  17. Are markers of inflammation more strongly associated with risk for fatal than for nonfatal vascular events?

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Sattar, Naveed

    2009-06-23

    Circulating inflammatory markers may more strongly relate to risk of fatal versus nonfatal cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, but robust prospective evidence is lacking. We tested whether interleukin (IL)-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), and fibrinogen more strongly associate with fatal compared to nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke.

  18. Electrodynamical forbiddance of a strong quadrupole interaction in surface enhanced optical processes. Experimental confirmation of the existence in fullerene C{sub 60}

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Polubotko, A. M., E-mail: alex.marina@mail.ioffe.ru [Russian Academy of Sciences, Ioffe Physical Technical Institute (Russian Federation); Chelibanov, V. P., E-mail: Chelibanov@gmail.com [State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (Russian Federation)

    2017-02-15

    It is demonstrated that in the SERS and SEIRA spectra of the fullerene C{sub 60}, the lines, which are forbidden in usual Raman and IR spectra and allowed in SERS and SEIRA, are absent. In addition the enhancement SERS coefficient in a single molecule detection regime is ~10{sup 8} instead of the value 10{sup 14}–10{sup 15}, characteristic for this phenomenon. These results are explained by the existence of so-called electrodynamical forbiddance of a strong quadrupole light-molecule interaction, which arises because of belonging of C{sup 60} to the icosahedral symmetry group and due to the electrodynamical law divE = 0.

  19. Strong association between house characteristics and malaria vectors in Sri Lanka

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Konradsen, Flemming; Amerasinghe, Priyanie; van der Hoek, Wim

    2003-01-01

    . The type of house construction and the exact location of all houses were determined. In a multivariate analysis, distance of less than 750 meters between a house and the main vector-breeding site was strongly associated with the presence of Anopheles culicifacies in the house (odds ratio [OR] 4.8, 95......The objective of this study was to determine whether house characteristics could be used to further refine the residual insecticide-spraying program in Sri Lanka. Indoor-resting mosquito densities were estimated in 473 houses based on fortnightly collections over a two-and-a-half-year period...

  20. Illusory Paschen curves associated with strongly electronegative gases

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    McAllister, Iain Wilson

    1991-01-01

    Using analytical linear regression analysis, it is shown that, for a strongly electronegative gas, the (direct) breakdown voltage curve obtained with a moderately nonuniform field is effectively linear. For a strongly electronegative gas, breakdown voltage measurements made on a moderately...... nonuniform field test gap give rise to an apparently liner curve. The curve can be designated a Paschen curve, but the erroneous nature of this designation becomes apparent from a linear regression analysis of the experimental breakdown data...

  1. Strongly coupled SU(2v boson and LEP1 versus LEP2

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Bilenky

    1993-10-01

    Full Text Available If new strong interactions exist in the electroweak bosonic sector (e.g., strong Higgs sector, dynamical electroweak breaking, etc., it is natural to expect new resonances, with potentially strong couplings. We consider an additional vector-boson triplet, V+-, V0, associated with an SU(2v local symmetry under the specific (but rather natural assumption that ordinary fermions are SU(2v singlets. Mixing of the V triplet with the W+-, Z0 bosons effectively leads to an SU(2L×U(1Y violating vector-boson-fermion interaction which is strongly bounded by LEP1 data. In contrast, the potentially large deviation of the Z0W+W- coupling from its SU(2L×U(1Y value is hardly constrained by LEP1 data. Results from experiments with direct access to the trilinear Z0W+W− coupling (LEP200, NLC are urgently needed.

  2. Dual field theory of strong interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akers, D.

    1987-01-01

    A dual field theory of strong interactions is derived from a Lagrangian of the Yang-Mills and Higgs fields. The existence of a magnetic monopole of mass 2397 MeV and Dirac charge g = (137/2)e is incorporated into the theory. Unification of the strong, weak, and electromagnetic forces is shown to converge at the mass of the intermediate vector boson W/sup +/-/. The coupling constants of the strong and weak interactions are derived in terms of the fine-structure constant α = 1/137

  3. Strong Nash Equilibria and the Potential Maimizer

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Megen, F.J.C.; Facchini, G.; Borm, P.E.M.; Tijs, S.H.

    1996-01-01

    A class of non cooperative games characterized by a `congestion e ect' is studied, in which there exists a strong Nash equilibrium, and the set of Nash equilibria, the set of strong Nash equilibria and the set of strategy pro les maximizing the potential function coincide.The structure of the class

  4. Land-Ocean-Atmospheric Coupling Associated with Earthquakes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prasad, A. K.; Singh, R. P.; Kumar, S.; Cervone, G.; Kafatos, M.; Zlotnicki, J.

    2007-12-01

    Earthquakes are well known to occur along the plate boundaries and also on the stable shield. The recent studies have shown existence of strong coupling between land-ocean-atmospheric parameters associated with the earthquakes. We have carried out detailed analysis of multi sensor data (optical and microwave remote) to show existence of strong coupling between land-ocean-atmospheric parameters associated with the earthquakes with focal depth up to 30 km and magnitude greater than 5.5. Complimentary nature of various land, ocean and atmospheric parameters will be demonstrated in getting an early warning information about an impending earthquake.

  5. Are markers of inflammation more strongly associated with risk for fatal than for nonfatal vascular events?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naveed Sattar

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Circulating inflammatory markers may more strongly relate to risk of fatal versus nonfatal cardiovascular disease (CVD events, but robust prospective evidence is lacking. We tested whether interleukin (IL-6, C-reactive protein (CRP, and fibrinogen more strongly associate with fatal compared to nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI and stroke. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In the Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER, baseline inflammatory markers in up to 5,680 men and women aged 70-82 y were related to risk for endpoints; nonfatal CVD (i.e., nonfatal MI and nonfatal stroke [n = 672], fatal CVD (n = 190, death from other CV causes (n = 38, and non-CVD mortality (n = 300, over 3.2-y follow-up. Elevations in baseline IL-6 levels were significantly (p = 0.0009; competing risks model analysis more strongly associated with fatal CVD (hazard ratio [HR] for 1 log unit increase in IL-6 1.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.44-2.12 than with risk of nonfatal CVD (1.17, 95% CI 1.04-1.31, in analyses adjusted for treatment allocation. The findings were consistent in a fully adjusted model. These broad trends were similar for CRP and, to a lesser extent, for fibrinogen. The results were also similar in placebo and statin recipients (i.e., no interaction. The C-statistic for fatal CVD using traditional risk factors was significantly (+0.017; p<0.0001 improved by inclusion of IL-6 but not so for nonfatal CVD events (p = 0.20. CONCLUSIONS: In PROSPER, inflammatory markers, in particular IL-6 and CRP, are more strongly associated with risk of fatal vascular events than nonfatal vascular events. These novel observations may have important implications for better understanding aetiology of CVD mortality, and have potential clinical relevance.

  6. Strong coupling phase in QED

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aoki, Ken-ichi

    1988-01-01

    Existence of a strong coupling phase in QED has been suggested in solutions of the Schwinger-Dyson equation and in Monte Carlo simulation of lattice QED. In this article we recapitulate the previous arguments, and formulate the problem in the modern framework of the renormalization theory, Wilsonian renormalization. This scheme of renormalization gives the best understanding of the basic structure of a field theory especially when it has a multi-phase structure. We resolve some misleading arguments in the previous literature. Then we set up a strategy to attack the strong phase, if any. We describe a trial; a coupled Schwinger-Dyson equation. Possible picture of the strong coupling phase QED is presented. (author)

  7. Seismic switch for strong motion measurement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harben, P.E.; Rodgers, P.W.; Ewert, D.W.

    1995-05-30

    A seismic switching device is described that has an input signal from an existing microseismic station seismometer and a signal from a strong motion measuring instrument. The seismic switch monitors the signal level of the strong motion instrument and passes the seismometer signal to the station data telemetry and recording systems. When the strong motion instrument signal level exceeds a user set threshold level, the seismometer signal is switched out and the strong motion signal is passed to the telemetry system. The amount of time the strong motion signal is passed before switching back to the seismometer signal is user controlled between 1 and 15 seconds. If the threshold level is exceeded during a switch time period, the length of time is extended from that instant by one user set time period. 11 figs.

  8. Strong but variable associations between social dominance and clutch sex ratio in a colonial corvid

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Salomons, H. M.; Dijkstra, C.; Verhulst, S.

    2008-01-01

    We studied primary sex ratio of clutches in relation to social dominance for 6 years in a colony of free-living jackdaws, a small corvid. Social dominance was strongly associated with clutch sex ratio, with the difference in clutch sex ratio between the most and least dominant pairs being 30-40%. To

  9. Pre-existing psychiatric disorder in the burn patient is associated with worse outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hudson, Alexandra; Al Youha, Sarah; Samargandi, Osama A; Paletz, Justin

    2017-08-01

    To compare patient and burn characteristics between patients who had a pre-existing psychiatric diagnosis and patients who did not in a Burn Unit at an academic hospital. Psychosocial issues are common in patients recovering from a burn; however, little is known regarding hospital course and discharge outcomes in patients with a pre-existing psychiatric diagnosis presenting with a burn. Baseline medical comorbidities of burn patients have been shown to be a significant risk for in-hospital mortality. A retrospective chart review of 479 consecutive patients admitted to the Burn Unit of an academic hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia between March 2nd 1995 and June 1st 2013 was performed. Extensive data regarding patient and burn characteristics and outcomes was collected. Patients with and without pre-existing psychiatric diagnoses at the time of hospital admission were compared. Sixty-three (13%) patients had a psychiatric diagnosis, with the most common being depression (52%). Forty-percent (n=25/63) of these patients had multiple pre-existing psychiatric diagnoses. Patients with a psychiatric diagnosis had a greater total-body-surface-area (TBSA)% covered by a third-degree burn (p=0.001), and were more likely to have an inhalation injury (pBurn Unit (p=0.01). The risk of death in burn patients with pre-existing psychiatric disorders was about three times the risk of death in patients with no psychiatric disorders when adjusting for other potential confounders (95% CI, 1.13-9.10; p-value 0.03). Presence of a pre-existing psychiatric disorder in the burn patient was associated with worse outcomes and was a significant predictor of death. Psychiatric diagnoses should be identified early in burn treatment and efforts should be made to ensure a comprehensive approach to inpatient support and patient discharge to reduce unfavorable burn outcomes and placement issues. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

  10. Algodistrophy and breast cancer: exists association?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vidal, N.; Valdivia, S.; Santos, C.; Morales, R.; Cano, R.; Salomon, M.; Cabrera, N.

    1992-01-01

    Algodistrophy is a well defined clinical entity in which usually it is possible to identify an association with trauma or other diseases. In the present article we describe three patients with breast carcinoma who developed algodistrophy an association no previously reported in literature, and analyzed the possible interrelation between both diseases. (Author). 46 refs., 2 tab., 5 fig

  11. Is the Number of Different MRI Findings More Strongly Associated with Low Back Pain Than Single MRI Findings?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hancock, Mark J; Kjaer, Per; Kent, Peter

    2017-01-01

    STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis using 2 different data sets OBJECTIVE.: To investigate if the number of different MRI findings present is more strongly associated with low back pain (LBP) than single MRI findings. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Most previous studies have....... The outcome for the cross-sectional study was presence of LBP during the last year. The outcome for the longitudinal study was days to recurrence of activity limiting LBP. In both data sets we created an aggregate score of the number of different MRI findings present in each individual and assessed...... investigated the associations between single MRI findings and back pain rather than investigating combinations of MRI findings. If different individuals have different pathoanatomic sources contributing to their pain, then combinations of MRI findings may be more strongly associated with LBP. METHODS...

  12. Hometown associations and solidarities in Kurdish transnational villages<strong> strong>

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Connie Carøe

    2008-01-01

    The politization of transnational relations obscures and dichotomizes our perceptions of migrants and their development activities in the sending society. A current boost in hometown associations for a cluster of Kurdish villages in Turkey, should thus be connected to a more self-conscious transn......The politization of transnational relations obscures and dichotomizes our perceptions of migrants and their development activities in the sending society. A current boost in hometown associations for a cluster of Kurdish villages in Turkey, should thus be connected to a more self......-conscious transnational component in the village community, rather than to the polarization among migrants, producing on the one hand developers (of the hometown) and integration activists. Social remittances - ideas, norms and practices transferred by migrants to their sending society are not widely recognized...

  13. Prostate Cancer Patient Characteristics Associated With a Strong Preference to Preserve Sexual Function and Receipt of Active Surveillance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broughman, James R; Basak, Ramsankar; Nielsen, Matthew E; Reeve, Bryce B; Usinger, Deborah S; Spearman, Kiayni C; Godley, Paul A; Chen, Ronald C

    2018-04-01

    Men with early-stage prostate cancer have multiple options that have similar oncologic efficacy but vary in terms of their impact on quality of life. In low-risk cancer, active surveillance is the option that best preserves patients' sexual function, but it is unknown if patient preference affects treatment selection. Our objectives were to identify patient characteristics associated with a strong preference to preserve sexual function and to determine whether patient preference and baseline sexual function level are associated with receipt of active surveillance in low-risk cancer. In this population-based cohort of men with localized prostate cancer, baseline patient-reported sexual function was assessed using a validated instrument. Patients were also asked whether preservation of sexual function was very, somewhat, or not important. Prostate cancer disease characteristics and treatments received were abstracted from medical records. A modified Poisson regression model with robust standard errors was used to compute adjusted risk ratio (aRR) estimates. All statistical tests were two-sided. Among 1194 men, 52.6% indicated a strong preference for preserving sexual function. Older men were less likely to have a strong preference (aRR = 0.98 per year, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.97 to 0.99), while men with normal sexual function were more likely (vs poor function, aRR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.39 to 1.82). Among 568 men with low-risk cancer, there was no clear association between baseline sexual function or strong preference to preserve function with receipt of active surveillance. However, strong preference may differnetially impact those with intermediate baseline function vs poor function (Pinteraction = .02). Treatment choice may not always align with patients' preferences. These findings demonstrate opportunities to improve delivery of patient-centered care in early prostate cancer.

  14. Electromagnetic pulses in a strongly magnetized electron-positron plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu, M.Y.; Rao, N.N.

    1985-01-01

    The conditions for the existence of large-amplitude localized electromagnetic wave pulses in an electron-positron plasma penetrated by a very strong ambient magnetic field are obtained. It is shown that such pulses can exist in pulsar polar magnetospheres. 12 references

  15. Measurement of strong interaction effects in antiprotonic helium atoms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davies, J.D.; Gorringe, T.P.; Lowe, J.; Nelson, J.M.; Playfer, S.M.; Pyle, G.J.; Squier, G.T.A.

    1984-01-01

    The strong interaction shift and width for the 2 p level and the width for the 3d level have been measured for antiprotonic helium atoms. The results are compared with optical model calculations. The possible existence of strongly bound antiproton states in nuclei is discussed. (orig.)

  16. Simulation of weak and strong Langmuir collapse regimes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hadzievski, L.R.; Skoric, M.M.; Kono, M.; Sato, T.

    1998-01-01

    In order to check the validity of the self-similar solutions and the existence of weak and strong collapse regimes, direct two dimensional simulation of the time evolution of a Langmuir soliton instability is performed. Simulation is based on the Zakharov model of strong Langmuir turbulence in a weakly magnetized plasma accounting for the full ion dynamics. For parameters considered, agreement with self-similar dynamics of the weak collapse type is found with no evidence of the strong Langmuir collapse. (author)

  17. Strong interactions at high energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anselmino, M.

    1995-01-01

    Spin effects in strong interaction high energy processes are subtle phenomena which involve both short and long distance physics and test perturbative and non perturbative aspects of QCD. Moreover, depending on quantities like interferences between different amplitudes and relative phases, spin observables always test a theory at a fundamental quantum mechanical level; it is then no surprise that spin data are often difficult to accommodate within the existing models. A report is made on the main issues and contributions discussed in the parallel Session on the open-quote open-quote Strong interactions at high energy close-quote close-quote in this Conference. copyright 1995 American Institute of Physics

  18. Wind speed and direction shears with associated vertical motion during strong surface winds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, M. B.; Camp, D. W.

    1984-01-01

    Strong surface winds recorded at the NASA 150-Meter Ground Winds Tower facility at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, are analyzed to present occurrences representative of wind shear and vertical motion known to be hazardous to the ascent and descent of conventional aircraft and the Space Shuttle. Graphical (percentage frequency distributions) and mathematical (maximum, mean, standard deviation) descriptions of wind speed and direction shears and associated updrafts and downdrafts are included as functions of six vertical layers and one horizontal distance for twenty 5-second intervals of parameters sampled simultaneously at the rate of ten per second during a period of high surface winds.

  19. Strong plasma turbulence in the earth's electron foreshock

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, P. A.; Newman, D. L.

    1991-01-01

    A quantitative model is developed to account for the distribution in magnitude and location of the intense plasma waves observed in the earth's electron foreshock given the observed rms levels of waves. In this model, nonlinear strong-turbulence effects cause solitonlike coherent wave packets to form and decouple from incoherent background beam-excited weak turbulence, after which they convect downstream with the solar wind while collapsing to scales as short as 100 m and fields as high as 2 V/m. The existence of waves with energy densities above the strong-turbulence wave-collapse threshold is inferred from observations from IMP 6 and ISEE 1 and quantitative agreement is found between the predicted distribution of fields in an ensemble of such wave packets and the actual field distribution observed in situ by IMP 6. Predictions for the polarization of plasma waves and the bandwidth of ion-sound waves are also consistent with the observations. It is shown that strong-turbulence effects must be incorporated in any comprehensive theory of the propagation and evolution of electron beams in the foreshock. Previous arguments against the existence of strong turbulence in the foreshock are refuted.

  20. Strong plasma turbulence in the earth's electron foreshock

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robinson, P.A.; Newman, D.L.

    1991-01-01

    A quantitative model is developed to account for the distribution in magnitude and location of the intense plasma waves observed in the Earth's electron foreshock given the observed rms levels of waves. In this model, nonlinear strong-turbulence effects cause solitonlike coherent wave packets to form and decouple from incoherent background beam-excited weak turbulence, after which they convect downstream with the solar wind while collapsing to scales as short as 100 m and fields as high as 2 V m -1 . The existence of waves with energy densities above the strong-turbulence wave-collapse threshold is inferred from observations from IMP 6 and ISEE 1 and quantitative agreement is found between the predicted distribution of fields in an ensemble of such wave packets and the actual field distribution observed in situ by IMP 6. Predictions for the polarization of plasma waves and the bandwidth of ion-sound waves are also consistent with the observations. It is shown that strong-turbulence effects must be incorporated in any comprehensive theory of the propagation and evolution of electron beams in the foreshock. Previous arguments against the existence of strong turbulence in the foreshock are refuted

  1. highly prevalent hyperuricaemia is associated with adverse clinical ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2015-09-01

    Sep 1, 2015 ... SUMMARY. Background: Although a direct causal relationship between hyperuricaemia and stroke continues to be debated, strong associations between serum uric acid. (SUA) and cerebrovascular disease exist. Very few studies have been conducted to evaluate the frequency and association between ...

  2. Solvability of Extended General Strongly Mixed Variational Inequalities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Balwant Singh Thakur

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a new class of extended general strongly mixed variational inequalities is introduced and studied in Hilbert spaces. An existence theorem of solution is established and using resolvent operator technique, a new iterative algorithm for solving the extended general strongly mixed variational inequality is suggested. A convergence result for the iterative sequence generated by the new algorithm is also established.

  3. Solution of the strong CP problem by color exchange

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barr, S.M.; Zee, A.

    1985-08-01

    We present a new way to solve the strong CP problem in models with a spontaneously broken CP invariance. It is simpler than existing non-Peccei-Quinn approaches. It predicts the existence of light (i.e. weak scale) colored Higgs bosons which could be seen in colliders. 25 refs., 3 figs

  4. Dynamics of dissociation versus ionization in strong laser fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DiMauro, L.F.; Yang, B.

    1993-01-01

    In this paper, experimental results are presented which clearly demonstrate the effectiveness that an external field has in altering the dissociation dynamics. The experiment examines the strong-field dissociation dynamics of molecular hydrogen ions and its deuterated isotopes. These studies involve multiphoton excitation in the intensity regime of 10 11-14 W/cm 2 with the fundamental and second harmonic of a ND:YAG or ND:YLF laser system. Measurements include energy resolved electron and mass spectroscopy which provide useful probes in elucidating the interaction dynamics predicted by existing models. The example this in this paper, examines the strong-field dissociation of H 2 + , HD + , and D 2 + at green (0.5 μm) and (1μm) frequencies. The diatomic ions are formed via multiphonon ionization of the neutral precursor which is physically separable from the dissociation process. This study provides the first observation of the dynamics associated with the above threshold dissociation (ATD) process and analogies will be made with the more familiar above threshold ionization (ATI) phenomenon

  5. Existence of relativistic stars in f(R) gravity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Upadhye, Amol; Hu, Wayne

    2009-01-01

    We refute recent claims in the literature that stars with relativistically deep potentials cannot exist in f(R) gravity. Numerical examples of stable stars, including relativistic (GM * /r * ∼0.1), constant density stars, are studied. As a star is made larger, nonlinear 'chameleon' effects screen much of the star's mass, stabilizing gravity at the stellar center. Furthermore, we show that the onset of this chameleon screening is unrelated to strong gravity. At large central pressures P>ρ/3, f(R) gravity, like general relativity, does have a maximum gravitational potential, but at a slightly smaller value: GM * /r * | max =0.345<4/9 for constant density and one choice of parameters. This difference is associated with negative central curvature R under general relativity not being accessed in the f(R) model, but does not apply to any known astrophysical object.

  6. Algodistrophy and breast cancer: exists association. Algodistrofia y cancer de mama: existe asociacion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vidal, N [Hospital Maria Auxiliadora (Peru); Valdivia, S; Santos, C [Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas (Peru); Morales, R; Cano, R [Instituto Peruano de Energia Nuclear, Lima (Peru); Salomon, M [Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Peru); Cabrera, N [Universidad San Martin de Porres (Peru)

    1992-07-01

    Algodistrophy is a well defined clinical entity in which usually it is possible to identify an association with trauma or other diseases. In the present article we describe three patients with breast carcinoma who developed algodistrophy an association no previously reported in literature, and analyzed the possible interrelation between both diseases. (Author). 46 refs., 2 tab., 5 fig.

  7. Existence of solitary waves in dipolar quantum gases

    KAUST Repository

    Antonelli, Paolo; Sparber, Christof

    2011-01-01

    We study a nonlinear Schrdinger equation arising in the mean field description of dipolar quantum gases. Under the assumption of sufficiently strong dipolar interactions, the existence of standing waves, and hence solitons, is proved together with some of their properties. This gives a rigorous argument for the possible existence of solitary waves in BoseEinstein condensates, which originate solely due to the dipolar interaction between the particles. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Existence of solitary waves in dipolar quantum gases

    KAUST Repository

    Antonelli, Paolo

    2011-02-01

    We study a nonlinear Schrdinger equation arising in the mean field description of dipolar quantum gases. Under the assumption of sufficiently strong dipolar interactions, the existence of standing waves, and hence solitons, is proved together with some of their properties. This gives a rigorous argument for the possible existence of solitary waves in BoseEinstein condensates, which originate solely due to the dipolar interaction between the particles. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Is prehypertension more strongly associated with long-term ambient air pollution exposure than hypertension? Findings from the 33 Communities Chinese Health Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Bo-Yi; Qian, Zhengmin Min; Vaughn, Michael G; Nelson, Erik J; Dharmage, Shyamali C; Heinrich, Joachim; Lin, Shao; Lawrence, Wayne R; Ma, Huimin; Chen, Duo-Hong; Hu, Li-Wen; Zeng, Xiao-Wen; Xu, Shu-Li; Zhang, Chuan; Dong, Guang-Hui

    2017-10-01

    Numerous studies have evaluated the effects of long-term exposure to ambient air pollution on hypertension. However, little information exists regarding its effects on prehypertension, a very common, but understudied cardiovascular indicator. We evaluated data from 24,845 adults (ages 18-74 years) living in three Northeastern Chinese cities in 2009. Blood pressure (BP) was measured by trained observers using a standardized mercuric-column sphygmomanometer. Three-year (from 2006 to 2008) average concentrations of particles with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM 10 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen dioxides (NO 2 ), and ozone (O 3 ) were calculated using data from monitoring stations. Effects were analyzed using generalized additive models and two-level regression analyses, controlling for covariates. We found positive associations of all pollutants with prehypertension (e.g. odds ratio (OR) was 1.17 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.09-1.25) per interquartile range (IQR) of PM 10 ) in a fully adjusted model, as compared to normotensive participants. These associations were stronger than associations with hypertension (e.g. OR was 1.03 (95% CI, 1.00, 1.07) per IQR of PM 10 ). We have also found positive associations of all studied pollutants with systolic and diastolic BP: e.g., associations with PM 10 per IQR were 1.24 mmHg (95% CI, 1.03-1.45) for systolic BP and 0.47 mmHg (95% CI, 0.33-0.61) for diastolic BP. Further, we observed that associations with BP were stronger in women and in older participants (systolic BP only). In conclusion, long-term exposure to ambient air pollution was more strongly associated with prehypertension than with hypertension, especially among females and the elderly. Thus, interventions to reduce air pollution are of great significance for preventing future cardiovascular events, particularly among individuals with prehypertension. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Existence of weak solutions to stochastic evolution inclusions

    OpenAIRE

    Jakubowski , Adam; Kamenskii , Mikhail; Raynaud de Fitte , Paul

    2005-01-01

    International audience; We consider the Cauchy problem for a semilinear stochastic differential inclusion in a Hilbert space. The linear operator generates a strongly continuous semigroup and the nonlinear term is multivalued and satisfies a condition which is more heneral than the Lipschitz condition. We prove the existence of a mild solution to this problem. This solution is not "strong" in the probabilistic sense, that is, it is not defined on the underlying probability space, but on a lar...

  11. Existence of Solutions of Nonlinear Integrodifferential Equations of ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Abstract. In this paper we prove the existence of mild and strong solutions of a nonlinear integrodifferential equation of Sobolev type with nonlocal condition. The results are obtained by using semigroup theory and the Schauder fixed point theorem.

  12. Periodontitis in coronary heart disease patients: strong association between bleeding on probing and systemic biomarkers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bokhari, Syed Akhtar H; Khan, Ayyaz A; Butt, Arshad K; Hanif, Mohammad; Izhar, Mateen; Tatakis, Dimitris N; Ashfaq, Mohammad

    2014-11-01

    Few studies have examined the relationship of individual periodontal parameters with individual systemic biomarkers. This study assessed the possible association between specific clinical parameters of periodontitis and systemic biomarkers of coronary heart disease risk in coronary heart disease patients with periodontitis. Angiographically proven coronary heart disease patients with periodontitis (n = 317), aged >30 years and without other systemic illness were examined. Periodontal clinical parameters of bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD), and clinical attachment level (CAL) and systemic levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen (FIB) and white blood cells (WBC) were noted and analyzed to identify associations through linear and stepwise multiple regression analyses. Unadjusted linear regression showed significant associations between periodontal and systemic parameters; the strongest association (r = 0.629; p periodontal and systemic inflammation marker, respectively. Stepwise regression analysis models revealed that BOP was a predictor of systemic CRP levels (p periodontal parameter significantly associated with each systemic parameter (CRP, FIB, and WBC). In coronary heart disease patients with periodontitis, BOP is strongly associated with systemic CRP levels; this association possibly reflects the potential significance of the local periodontal inflammatory burden for systemic inflammation. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Visual evoked potentials show strong positive association with intracranial pressure in patients with cryptococcal meningitis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcelo Adriano da Cunha Silva Vieira

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Objective : To verify the relationship between intracranial pressure and flash visual evoked potentials (F-VEP in patients with cryptococcal meningitis. Method The sample included adults diagnosed with cryptococcal meningitis admitted at a reference hospital for infectious diseases. The patients were subjected to F-VEP tests shortly before lumbar puncture. The Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient was calculated and the linear regression analysis was performed. Results : Eighteen individuals were subjected to a total of 69 lumbar punctures preceded by F-VEP tests. At the first lumbar puncture performed in each patient, N2 latency exhibited a strong positive correlation with intracranial pressure (r = 0.83; CI = 0.60 - 0.94; p < 0.0001. The direction of this relationship was maintained in subsequent punctures. Conclusion : The intracranial pressure measured by spinal tap manometry showed strong positive association with the N2 latency F-VEP in patients with cryptococcal meningitis.

  14. Psychobehavioural Factors Are More Strongly Associated with Successful Weight Management Than Predetermined Satiety Effect or Other Characteristics of Diet

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leila Karhunen

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to investigate factors associated with weight management, especially whether satiety value of food as a part of a weight-maintenance diet would affect self-regulation of food intake and weight management. Altogether 82 obese subjects completed the study consisting of weight-loss and weight-maintenance (WM periods. During the WM, subjects were randomized into higher- and lower-satiety food groups. No differences were observed in the changes in body weight, energy intake, or eating behaviour between the groups, even despite the different macronutrient compositions of the diets. However, when regarding all study subjects, success in WM was most strongly associated with a greater increase in the flexible control of eating and experience of greater easiness of WM and control of food intake and a greater decrease in uncontrollable eating and psychological distress. Psychobehavioural factors seem to be more strongly associated with successful weight management than the predetermined satiety effect or other characteristics of the diet.

  15. Strong Electroweak Symmetry Breaking and Spin-0 Resonances

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evans, Jared; Luty, Markus A.

    2009-01-01

    We argue that theories of the strong electroweak symmetry breaking sector necessarily contain new spin 0 states at the TeV scale in the tt and tb/bt channels, even if the third generation quarks are not composite at the TeV scale. These states couple sufficiently strongly to third generation quarks to have significant production at LHC via gg→φ 0 or gb→tφ - . The existence of narrow resonances in QCD suggests that the strong electroweak breaking sector contains narrow resonances that decay to tt or tb/bt, with potentially significant branching fractions to 3 or more longitudinal W and Z bosons. These may give new 'smoking gun' signals of strong electroweak symmetry breaking.

  16. Concrete structures. Contribution to the safety assessment of existing structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. COUTO

    Full Text Available The safety evaluation of an existing concrete structure differs from the design of new structures. The partial safety factors for actions and resistances adopted in the design phase consider uncertainties and inaccuracies related to the building processes of structures, variability of materials strength and numerical approximations of the calculation and design processes. However, when analyzing a finished structure, a large number of unknown factors during the design stage are already defined and can be measured, which justifies a change in the increasing factors of the actions or reduction factors of resistances. Therefore, it is understood that safety assessment in existing structures is more complex than introducing security when designing a new structure, because it requires inspection, testing, analysis and careful diagnose. Strong knowledge and security concepts in structural engineering are needed, as well as knowledge about the materials of construction employed, in order to identify, control and properly consider the variability of actions and resistances in the structure. With the intention of discussing this topic considered complex and diffuse, this paper presents an introduction to the safety of concrete structures, a synthesis of the recommended procedures by Brazilian standards and another codes, associated with the topic, as well a realistic example of the safety assessment of an existing structure.

  17. Why preeclampsia still exists?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chelbi, Sonia T; Veitia, Reiner A; Vaiman, Daniel

    2013-08-01

    Preeclampsia (PE) is a deadly gestational disease affecting up to 10% of women and specific of the human species. Preeclampsia is clearly multifactorial, but the existence of a genetic basis for this disease is now clearly established by the existence of familial cases, epidemiological studies and known predisposing gene polymorphisms. PE is very common despite the fact that Darwinian pressure should have rapidly eliminated or strongly minimized the frequency of predisposing alleles. Consecutive pregnancies with the same partner decrease the risk and severity of PE. Here, we show that, due to this peculiar feature, preeclampsia predisposing-alleles can be differentially maintained according to the familial structure. Thus, we suggest that an optimal frequency of PE-predisposing alleles in human populations can be achieved as a result of a trade-off between benefits of exogamy, importance for maintaining genetic diversity and increase of the fitness owing to a stable paternal investment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Joint association of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor variants with abdominal obesity in American Indians: the Strong Heart Family Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Yun; Yang, Jingyun; Yeh, Fawn; Cole, Shelley A; Haack, Karin; Lee, Elisa T; Howard, Barbara V; Zhao, Jinying

    2014-01-01

    Cigarette smoke is a strong risk factor for obesity and cardiovascular disease. The effect of genetic variants involved in nicotine metabolism on obesity or body composition has not been well studied. Though many genetic variants have previously been associated with adiposity or body fat distribution, a single variant usually confers a minimal individual risk. The goal of this study is to evaluate the joint association of multiple variants involved in cigarette smoke or nicotine dependence with obesity-related phenotypes in American Indians. To achieve this goal, we genotyped 61 tagSNPs in seven genes encoding nicotine acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in 3,665 American Indians participating in the Strong Heart Family Study. Single SNP association with obesity-related traits was tested using family-based association, adjusting for traditional risk factors including smoking. Joint association of all SNPs in the seven nAChRs genes were examined by gene-family analysis based on weighted truncated product method (TPM). Multiple testing was controlled by false discovery rate (FDR). Results demonstrate that multiple SNPs showed weak individual association with one or more measures of obesity, but none survived correction for multiple testing. However, gene-family analysis revealed significant associations with waist circumference (p = 0.0001) and waist-to-hip ratio (p = 0.0001), but not body mass index (p = 0.20) and percent body fat (p = 0.29), indicating that genetic variants are jointly associated with abdominal, but not general, obesity among American Indians. The observed combined genetic effect is independent of cigarette smoking per se. In conclusion, multiple variants in the nAChR gene family are jointly associated with abdominal obesity in American Indians, independent of general obesity and cigarette smoking per se.

  19. Stability in a fiber bundle model: Existence of strong links and the effect of disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roy, Subhadeep

    2018-05-01

    The present paper deals with a fiber bundle model which consists of a fraction α of infinitely strong fibers. The inclusion of such an unbreakable fraction has been proven to affect the failure process in early studies, especially around a critical value αc. The present work has a twofold purpose: (i) a study of failure abruptness, mainly the brittle to quasibrittle transition point with varying α and (ii) variation of αc as we change the strength of disorder introduced in the model. The brittle to quasibrittle transition is confirmed from the failure abruptness. On the other hand, the αc is obtained from the knowledge of failure abruptness as well as the statistics of avalanches. It is observed that the brittle to quasibrittle transition point scales to lower values, suggesting more quasi-brittle-like continuous failure when α is increased. At the same time, the bundle becomes stronger as there are larger numbers of strong links to support the external stress. High α in a highly disordered bundle leads to an ideal situation where the bundle strength, as well as the predictability in failure process is very high. Also, the critical fraction αc, required to make the model deviate from the conventional results, increases with decreasing strength of disorder. The analytical expression for αc shows good agreement with the numerical results. Finally, the findings in the paper are compared with previous results and real-life applications of composite materials.

  20. Strongly not relatives Kähler manifolds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zedda Michela

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we study Kähler manifolds that are strongly not relative to any projective Kähler manifold, i.e. those Kähler manifolds that do not share a Kähler submanifold with any projective Kähler manifold even when their metric is rescaled by the multiplication by a positive constant. We prove two results which highlight some relations between this property and the existence of a full Kähler immersion into the infinite dimensional complex projective space. As application we get that the 1-parameter families of Bergman-Hartogs and Fock-Bargmann-Hartogs domains are strongly not relative to projective Kähler manifolds.

  1. Esophageal Motor Disorders Are a Strong and Independant Associated Factor of Barrett's Esophagus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bazin, Camille; Benezech, Alban; Alessandrini, Marine; Grimaud, Jean-Charles; Vitton, Veronique

    2018-04-30

    Esophageal motor disorder (EMD) has been shown to be associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, the association of EMD with a Barrett's esophagus (BE) is controversial. Our objective was to evaluate whether the presence of EMD was an independent factor associated with BE. A retrospective case-control study was conducted in GERD patients who all had oeso-gastroduodenal endoscopy and high-resolution esophageal manometry. The clinical data collected was known or potential risk factors for BE: male gender, smoking and alcohol consumption, age, body mass index, presence of hiatal hernia, frequency, and age of GERD. EMD were classified according to the Chicago classification into: ineffective motor syndrome, fragmented peristalsis and absence of peristalsis, lower esophageal sphincter hypotonia. Two hundred and one patients (101 in the GERD + BE group and 100 in the GERD without BE) were included. In univariate analysis, male gender, alcohol consumption, presence of hiatal hernia, and EMD appeared to be associated with the presence of BE. In a multivariate analysis, 3 independent factors were identified: the presence of EMD (odds ratio [OR], 3.99; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.71-9.28; P = 0.001), the presence of hiatal hernia (OR, 5.60; 95% CI, 2.45-12.76; P < 0.001), Helicobacter pylori infection (OR, 0.08; 95% CI, 0.01-0.84; P = 0.035). The presence of EMD (particularly ineffective motor syndrome and lower esophageal sphincter hypotonia) is a strong independent associated factor of BE. Searching systematically for an EMD in patients suffering from GERD could be a new strategy to organize the endoscopic follow-up.

  2. Strong and consistent natural selection associated with armour reduction in sticklebacks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    LE Rouzic, Arnaud; Østbye, Kjartan; Klepaker, Tom O; Hansen, Thomas F; Bernatchez, Louis; Schluter, Dolph; Vøllestad, L Asbjørn

    2011-06-01

    Measuring the strength of natural selection is tremendously important in evolutionary biology, but remains a challenging task. In this work, we analyse the characteristics of selection for a morphological change (lateral-plate reduction) in the threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus. Adaptation to freshwater, leading with the reduction or loss of the bony lateral armour, has occurred in parallel on numerous occasions in this species. Completely-plated and low-plated sticklebacks were introduced into a pond, and the phenotypic changes were tracked for 20 years. Fish from the last generation were genotyped for the Ectodysplasin-A (Eda) locus, the major gene involved in armour development. We found a strong fitness advantage for the freshwater-type fish (on average, 20% fitness advantage for the freshwater morph, and 92% for the freshwater genotype). The trend is best explained by assuming that this fitness advantage is maximum at the beginning of the invasion and decreases with time. Such fitness differences provide a quantifiable example of rapid selection-driven phenotypic evolution associated with environmental change in a natural population. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  3. Exact solutions of strong gravity in generalized metrics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hojman, R.; Smailagic, A.

    1981-05-01

    We consider classical solutions for the strong gravity theory of Salam and Strathdee in a wider class of metrics with positive, zero and negative curvature. It turns out that such solutions exist and their relevance for quark confinement is explored. Only metrics with positive curvature (spherical symmetry) give a confining potential in a simple picture of the scalar hadron. This supports the idea of describing the hadron as a closed microuniverse of the strong metric. (author)

  4. Strong Associations Exist among Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Biomarkers in the Circulating, Cellular and Urinary Anatomical Compartments in Guatemalan Children from the Western Highlands.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María J Soto-Méndez

    Full Text Available A series of antioxidant enzymes and non-enzymatic compounds act to protect cells from uncontrolled propagation of free radicals. It is poorly understood, though, to what extent and how their interaction is harmonized.To explore associative interactions among a battery of urinary and blood biomarkers of oxidative stress and enzymatic and non-enzymatic markers of the antioxidant defense system in children from low income households.For this cross-sectional descriptive study, urine, red cells, and plasma were sampled in 82 preschool children attending three daycare centers in Quetzaltenango Guatemala. The urinary oxidative stress biomarkers studied were F2-isoprostanes and 8-hydroxy-deoxy-guanosine. Red cell enzyme activities measured were: catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase. Circulating non-enzymatic antioxidants selected were: retinol, tocopherols, β-carotene and coenzymes Q9 and Q10.In a Spearman rank-order correlation hemi-matrix, of 55 paired combinations of the 11 biomarkers, 28 (51% were significantly correlated among each other (p ≤ 0.05, with the strongest association being retinol and tocopherols (r = 0.697, p 0.5 to ≤ 0.10. F2-isoprostanes showed the greatest number of cross-associations, having significant interactions with 8 of the 10 remaining biomarkers. Goodness-of-fit modeling improved or maintained the r value for 24 of the significant interactions and for one of the 5 borderline associations. Multiple regression backward stepwise analysis indicated that plasma retinol, β-carotene and coenzyme Q10 were independent predictors of urinary F2-isoprostanes.Numerous significant associations resulted among biomarkers of oxidation and responders to oxidation. Interesting findings were the apparent patterns of harmonious interactions among the elements of the oxidation-antioxidation systems in this population.

  5. Characterizing Aftershock Sequences of the Recent Strong Earthquakes in Central Italy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kossobokov, Vladimir G.; Nekrasova, Anastasia K.

    2017-10-01

    The recent strong earthquakes in Central Italy allow for a comparative analysis of their aftershocks from the viewpoint of the Unified Scaling Law for Earthquakes, USLE, which generalizes the Gutenberg-Richter relationship making use of naturally fractal distribution of earthquake sources of different size in a seismic region. In particular, we consider aftershocks as a sequence of avalanches in self-organized system of blocks-and-faults of the Earth lithosphere, each aftershock series characterized with the distribution of the USLE control parameter, η. We found the existence, in a long-term, of different, intermittent levels of rather steady seismic activity characterized with a near constant value of η, which switch, in mid-term, at times of transition associated with catastrophic events. On such a transition, seismic activity may follow different scenarios with inter-event time scaling of different kind, including constant, logarithmic, power law, exponential rise/decay or a mixture of those as observed in the case of the ongoing one associated with the three strong earthquakes in 2016. Evidently, our results do not support the presence of universality of seismic energy release, while providing constraints on modelling seismic sequences for earthquake physicists and supplying decision makers with information for improving local seismic hazard assessments.

  6. Strongly interacting matter in magnetic fields

    CERN Document Server

    Landsteiner, Karl; Schmitt, Andreas; Yee, Ho-Ung

    2013-01-01

    The physics of strongly interacting matter in an external magnetic field is presently emerging as a topic of great cross-disciplinary interest for particle, nuclear, astro- and condensed matter physicists. It is known that strong magnetic fields are created in heavy ion collisions, an insight that has made it possible to study a variety of surprising and intriguing phenomena that emerge from the interplay of quantum anomalies, the topology of non-Abelian gauge fields, and the magnetic field. In particular, the non-trivial topological configurations of the gluon field induce a non-dissipative electric current in the presence of a magnetic field. These phenomena have led to an extended formulation of relativistic hydrodynamics, called chiral magnetohydrodynamics. Hitherto unexpected applications in condensed matter physics include graphene and topological insulators. Other fields of application include astrophysics, where strong magnetic fields exist in magnetars and pulsars. Last but not least, an important ne...

  7. How we eat what we eat: identifying meal routines and practices most strongly associated with healthy and unhealthy dietary factors among young adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laska, Melissa N; Hearst, Mary O; Lust, Katherine; Lytle, Leslie A; Story, Mary

    2015-08-01

    (i) To examine associations between young adults' meal routines and practices (e.g. food preparation, meal skipping, eating on the run) and key dietary indicators (fruit/vegetable, fast-food and sugar-sweetened beverage intakes) and (ii) to develop indices of protective and risky meal practices most strongly associated with diet. Cross-sectional survey. Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, Minnesota (USA). A diverse sample of community college and public university students (n 1013). Meal routines and practices most strongly associated with healthy dietary patterns were related to home food preparation (i.e. preparing meals at home, preparing meals with vegetables) and meal regularity (i.e. routine consumption of evening meals and breakfast). In contrast, factors most strongly associated with poor dietary patterns included eating on the run, using media while eating and purchasing foods/beverages on campus. A Protective Factors Index, summing selected protective meal routines and practices, was positively associated with fruit/vegetable consumption and negatively associated with fast-food and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption (PMeal routines and practices were significantly associated with young adults' dietary patterns, suggesting that ways in which individuals structure mealtimes and contextual characteristics of eating likely influence food choice. Thus, in addition to considering specific food choices, it also may be important to consider the context of mealtimes in developing dietary messaging and guidelines.

  8. Strong adherence to a healthy dietary pattern is associated with better semen quality, especially in men with poor semen quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oostingh, Elsje C; Steegers-Theunissen, Régine P M; de Vries, Jeanne H M; Laven, Joop S E; Koster, Maria P H

    2017-04-01

    To study associations between periconceptional dietary patterns and semen quality parameters. Prospective periconception cohort study. Tertiary hospital. One hundred and twenty-nine male partners of pregnant women who participated in the Rotterdam Periconception Cohort (Predict study). None. Semen quality parameters-ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, progressive motility, immotile sperm, and total motile sperm count (TMSC). Men included in our study were on average 35 (±6 standard deviation) years old and had a body mass index of 26.4 ± 4 kg/m 2 . Two dietary patterns were identified using principle component analysis, which were labeled as "healthy" and "unhealthy." An increase of one factor score (stated as β) represented an increase of 1 standard deviation. Sperm concentration (β = 0.278; 95% CI, 0.112-0.444), total sperm count (β = 1.369; 95% CI, 0.244-2.495), progressive motility (β = 4.305; 95% CI, 0.675-7.936), and TMSC (β = 0.319; 95% CI, 0.113-0.526) were all positively associated with a strong adherence to the healthy dietary pattern. Subgroup analysis showed that these associations were mainly present in men with a TMSC strong adherence to the unhealthy dietary pattern. The positive associations between strong adherence to a healthy dietary pattern and semen parameters in men with poor semen quality support the importance of preconceptional tailored nutritional counseling and coaching of couples who are trying to conceive. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Existence and equivalence of twisted products on a symplectic manifold

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lichnerowicz, A.

    1979-01-01

    The twisted products play an important role in Quantum Mechanics. A distinction is introduced between Vey *sub(γ) products and strong Vey *sub(γ) products and it is proved that each *sub(γ) product is equivalent to a Vey *sub(γ) product. If b 3 (W) = 0, the symplectic manifold (W,F) admits strong Vey *sub(Gn) products. If b 2 (W) = 0, all *sub(γ) products are equivalent as well as the Vey Lie algebras. In the general case the formal Lie algebras are characterized which are generated by a *sub(γ) product and it proved that the existance of a *sub(γ)-product is equivalent to the existance of a formal Lie algebra infinitesimally equivalent to a Vey Lie algebra at the first order. (Auth.)

  10. Esophageal Motor Disorders Are a Strong and Independant Associated Factor of Barrett’s Esophagus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bazin, Camille; Benezech, Alban; Alessandrini, Marine; Grimaud, Jean-Charles; Vitton, Veronique

    2018-01-01

    Background/Aims Esophageal motor disorder (EMD) has been shown to be associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, the association of EMD with a Barrett’s esophagus (BE) is controversial. Our objective was to evaluate whether the presence of EMD was an independent factor associated with BE. Methods A retrospective case-control study was conducted in GERD patients who all had oeso-gastroduodenal endoscopy and high-resolution esophageal manometry. The clinical data collected was known or potential risk factors for BE: male gender, smoking and alcohol consumption, age, body mass index, presence of hiatal hernia, frequency, and age of GERD. EMD were classified according to the Chicago classification into: ineffective motor syndrome, fragmented peristalsis and absence of peristalsis, lower esophageal sphincter hypotonia. Results Two hundred and one patients (101 in the GERD + BE group and 100 in the GERD without BE) were included. In univariate analysis, male gender, alcohol consumption, presence of hiatal hernia, and EMD appeared to be associated with the presence of BE. In a multivariate analysis, 3 independent factors were identified: the presence of EMD (odds ratio [OR], 3.99; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.71–9.28; P = 0.001), the presence of hiatal hernia (OR, 5.60; 95% CI, 2.45–12.76; P motor syndrome and lower esophageal sphincter hypotonia) is a strong independent associated factor of BE. Searching systematically for an EMD in patients suffering from GERD could be a new strategy to organize the endoscopic follow-up. PMID:29605977

  11. Existence and asymptotic behavior of the wave equation with dynamic boundary conditions

    KAUST Repository

    Graber, Philip Jameson; Said-Houari, Belkacem

    2012-01-01

    The goal of this work is to study a model of the strongly damped wave equation with dynamic boundary conditions and nonlinear boundary/interior sources and nonlinear boundary/interior damping. First, applying the nonlinear semigroup theory, we show the existence and uniqueness of local in time solutions. In addition, we show that in the strongly damped case solutions gain additional regularity for positive times t>0. Second, we show that under some restrictions on the initial data and if the interior source dominates the interior damping term and if the boundary source dominates the boundary damping, then the solution grows as an exponential function. Moreover, in the absence of the strong damping term, we prove that the solution ceases to exists and blows up in finite time. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

  12. Existence and asymptotic behavior of the wave equation with dynamic boundary conditions

    KAUST Repository

    Graber, Philip Jameson

    2012-03-07

    The goal of this work is to study a model of the strongly damped wave equation with dynamic boundary conditions and nonlinear boundary/interior sources and nonlinear boundary/interior damping. First, applying the nonlinear semigroup theory, we show the existence and uniqueness of local in time solutions. In addition, we show that in the strongly damped case solutions gain additional regularity for positive times t>0. Second, we show that under some restrictions on the initial data and if the interior source dominates the interior damping term and if the boundary source dominates the boundary damping, then the solution grows as an exponential function. Moreover, in the absence of the strong damping term, we prove that the solution ceases to exists and blows up in finite time. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

  13. Mixed fermion-photon condensate in strongly coupled quantum electrodynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gusynin, V.P.; Kushnir, V.A.

    1989-01-01

    The existence of a new mixed fermion-photon condensate breaking chiral symmetry in strongly coupled phase of quantum electrodynamics is shown. An analytical expression for the renormalized condensate is obtained. 20 refs.; 2 figs

  14. Short leukocyte telomere length is associated with obesity in American Indians: the Strong Heart Family study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Shufeng; Yeh, Fawn; Lin, Jue; Matsuguchi, Tet; Blackburn, Elizabeth; Lee, Elisa T; Howard, Barbara V; Zhao, Jinying

    2014-05-01

    Shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL) has been associated with a wide range of age-related disorders including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes. Obesity is an important risk factor for CVD and diabetes. The association of LTL with obesity is not well understood. This study for the first time examines the association of LTL with obesity indices including body mass index, waist circumference, percent body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist-to-height ratio in 3,256 American Indians (14-93 years old, 60% women) participating in the Strong Heart Family Study. Association of LTL with each adiposity index was examined using multivariate generalized linear mixed model, adjusting for chronological age, sex, study center, education, lifestyle (smoking, alcohol consumption, and total energy intake), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, hypertension and diabetes. Results show that obese participants had significantly shorter LTL than non-obese individuals (age-adjusted P=0.0002). Multivariate analyses demonstrate that LTL was significantly and inversely associated with all of the studied obesity parameters. Our results may shed light on the potential role of biological aging in pathogenesis of obesity and its comorbidities.

  15. Association of diabetes and cancer mortality in American Indians: the Strong Heart Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Best, Lyle G; García-Esquinas, Esther; Yeh, Jeun-Liang; Yeh, Fawn; Zhang, Ying; Lee, Elisa T; Howard, Barbara V; Farley, John H; Welty, Thomas K; Rhoades, Dorothy A; Rhoades, Everett R; Umans, Jason G; Navas-Acien, Ana

    2015-11-01

    The metabolic abnormalities that accompany diabetes mellitus are associated with an increased risk of many cancers. These associations, however, have not been well studied in American Indian populations, which experience a high prevalence of diabetes. The Strong Heart Study is a population-based, prospective cohort study with extensive characterization of diabetes status. Among a total cohort of 4,419 participants who were followed for up to 20 years, 430 cancer deaths were identified. After adjusting for sex, age, education, smoking status, drinking status, and body mass index, participants with diabetes at baseline showed an increased risk of gastric (HR 4.09; 95% CI 1.42-11.79), hepatocellular (HR 2.94; 95% CI 1.17-7.40), and prostate cancer mortality (HR 3.10; 95% CI 1.22-7.94). Further adjustment for arsenic exposure showed a significantly increased risk of all-cause cancer mortality with diabetes (HR 1.27; 95% CI 1.03-1.58). Insulin resistance among participants without diabetes at baseline was associated with hepatocellular cancer mortality (HR 4.70; 95% CI 1.55-14.26). Diabetes mellitus, and/or insulin resistance among those without diabetes, is a risk factor for gastric, hepatocellular, and prostate cancer in these American Indian communities, although relatively small sample size suggests cautious interpretation. Additional research is needed to evaluate the role of diabetes and obesity on cancer incidence in American Indian communities as well as the importance of diabetes prevention and control in reducing the burden of cancer incidence and mortality in the study population.

  16. Rapid growth and childhood obesity are strongly associated with lysoPC(14:0).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rzehak, Peter; Hellmuth, Christian; Uhl, Olaf; Kirchberg, Franca F; Peissner, Wolfgang; Harder, Ulrike; Grote, Veit; Weber, Martina; Xhonneux, Annick; Langhendries, Jean-Paul; Ferre, Natalia; Closa-Monasterolo, Ricardo; Verduci, Elvira; Riva, Enrica; Socha, Piotr; Gruszfeld, Dariusz; Koletzko, Berthold

    2014-01-01

    Despite the growing interest in the early-origins-of-later-disease hypothesis, little is known about the metabolic underpinnings linking infant weight gain and childhood obesity. To discover biomarkers reflective of weight change in the first 6 months and overweight/obesity at age 6 years via a targeted metabolomics approach. This analysis comprised 726 infants from a European multicenter randomized trial (Childhood Obesity Programme, CHOP) for whom plasma blood samples at age 6 months and anthropometric data up to the age of 6 years were available. 'Rapid growth' was defined as a positive difference in weight within the first 6 months of life standardized to WHO growth standards. Weight change was regressed on each of 168 metabolites (acylcarnitines, lysophosphatidylcholines, sphingomyelins, and amino acids). Metabolites significant after Bonferroni's correction were tested as predictors of later overweight/obesity. Among the overall 19 significant metabolites, 4 were associated with rapid growth and 15 were associated with a less-than-ideal weight change. After adjusting for feeding group, only the lysophosphatidylcholine LPCaC14:0 remained significantly associated with rapid weight gain (β = 0.18). Only LPCaC14:0 at age 6 months was predictive of overweight/obesity at age 6 years (OR 1.33; 95% CI 1.04-1.69). LPCa14:0 is strongly related to rapid growth in infancy and childhood overweight/obesity. This suggests that LPCaC14:0 levels may represent a metabolically programmed effect of infant weight gain on the later obesity risk. However, these results require confirmation by independent cohorts. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  17. Associated genetic syndromes and extracardiac malformations strongly influence outcomes of fetuses with congenital heart diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bensemlali, Myriam; Bajolle, Fanny; Ladouceur, Magalie; Fermont, Laurent; Lévy, Marilyne; Le Bidois, Jérôme; Salomon, Laurent J; Bonnet, Damien

    2016-05-01

    Congenital heart disease (CHD) is often associated with extracardiac malformations (ECMs) and genetic syndromes. To determine the effect of cytogenetic anomalies and/or ECMs associated with CHD on parental decision to choose termination of pregnancy (TOP) or compassionate care (CC), as well as on the outcome of children born alive. This 10-year retrospective study included all prenatally diagnosed cases of CHD in a single tertiary referral centre. From January 2002 to December 2011, 2036 consecutive cases of fetal CHD (798 TOPs and 1238 live births, including 59 with postnatal CC) were included. CHD was associated with a known cytogenetic anomaly in 9.8% of cases and a major ECM in 11.7% of cases. The proportion of prenatally identified associated cytogenetic anomalies was significantly lower in the live-birth group than in the TOP plus CC group (4.2% vs 17.5%; P<0.001); this was also true for ECMs (8.1% vs 16.7%; P<0.001). The mortality rate was higher in the group with an associated cytogenetic anomaly or ECM (29.1%) than in cases with isolated CHD; a 2.4-fold increase in the death rate was observed (95% confidence interval 1.34-4.38; P=0.003). These associations remained significant after multivariable analysis, including the severity of the CHD (uni- or biventricular physiology). Prenatal diagnosis of a known cytogenetic anomaly or major ECM strongly influences parental decision to choose TOP or postnatal CC. Genetic syndromes and ECMs are associated with a higher mortality rate, independent of the complexity of the CHD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  18. Heavy axions from strong broken horizontal gauge symmetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elliott, T.; King, S.F.

    1993-01-01

    We study the consequences of the existence and breaking of a Peccei-Quinn symmetry within the context of a dynamical model of electroweak symmetry breaking based on broken gauged flavour symmetries. We perform an estimate of the axion mass by including flavour instanton effects and show that, for low cut-offs, the axion is sufficiently massive to prevent it from being phenomenologically unacceptable. We conclude with an examination of the strong CP problem and show that our axion cannot solve the problem, though we indicate ways in which the model can be extended so that the strong CP problem is solved. (orig.)

  19. Strong/weak coupling duality relations for non-supersymmetric string theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blum, J.D.; Dienes, K.R.

    1998-01-01

    Both the supersymmetric SO(32) and E 8 x E 8 heterotic strings in ten dimensions have known strong-coupling duals. However, it has not been known whether there also exist strong-coupling duals for the non-supersymmetric heterotic strings in ten dimensions. In this paper, we construct explicit open-string duals for the circle compactifications of several of these non-supersymmetric theories, among them the tachyon-free SO(16) x SO(16) string. Our method involves the construction of heterotic and open-string interpolating models that continuously connect non-supersymmetric strings to supersymmetric strings. We find that our non-supersymmetric dual theories have exactly the same massless spectra as their heterotic counterparts within a certain range of our interpolations. We also develop a novel method for analyzing the solitons of non-supersymmetric open-string theories, and find that the solitons of our dual theories also agree with their heterotic counterparts. These are therefore the first known examples of strong/weak coupling duality relations between non-supersymmetric, tachyon-free string theories. Finally, the existence of these strong-coupling duals allows us to examine the non-perturbative stability of these strings, and we propose a phase diagram for the behavior of these strings as a function of coupling and radius. (orig.)

  20. Atomic and free electrons in a strong light field

    CERN Document Server

    Fedorov, Mikhail V

    1997-01-01

    This book presents and describes a series of unusual and striking strong-field phenomena concerning atoms and free electrons. Some of these phenomena are: multiphoton stimulated bremsstrahlung, free-electron lasers, wave-packet physics, above-threshold ionization, and strong-field stabilization in Rydberg atoms. The theoretical foundations and causes of the phenomena are described in detail, with all the approximations and derivations discussed. All the known and relevant experiments are described too, and their results are compared with those of the existing theoretical models.An extensive ge

  1. On the conditions of existence of cold-blanket systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lehnert, B.

    1977-12-01

    An extende analysis of the partially ionized boundary layer of a magnetized plasma has been performed, leading to the following results: (i) In a first approximation the ion density at the inner ''edge'' of the layer becomes related to the wall-near neutral gas density, in a way being independent of the spatial distribution of the ionization rate. (ii) The particle and momentum balance equations, and the associated impermeability condition of the plasma with respect to neutral gas penetration, are not sufficient to specify a cold-blanket state, but have to be combined with considerations of the heat blance. This leads to lower and upper power input limits, thus defining conditions for the existence of a cold-blanket state. At decreasing beta values , or increasing radiation losses, there are situations where such a state cannot exist at all. (iii) It should become possible to fulfill the cold-blanket conditions in full-scale reactors as well as in certain model experiments. Probably these conditions can also be satisfied in large tokamaks like JET, and by fast gas injection in devices such as Alcator, but not in medium-size tokamaks being operated at moderately high ion densities. (iv) A strong ''boundary layer stabilization'' mechanism due to the joint viscosity-resistivity-pressure effects is available under cold-blanket conditions. (author)

  2. Quantum Transport in Strongly Correlated Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bohr, Dan

    2007-01-01

    the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method. We present two DMRG setups for calculating the linear conductance of strongly correlated nanostructures in the infinitesimal source-drain voltage regime. The first setup describes the leads by modified real-space tight-binding chains, whereas the second....... Thus both coherence and correlation effects are important in this model, and the methods applied should be able to handle both these effects rigorously. We present the DMRG setup for this model and benchmark against existing Greens function results for the model. Then we present initial DMRG results...... screening plays a much less significant role than in bulk systems due to the reduced size of the objects, therefore making it necessary to consider the importance of correlations between electrons. The work presented in this thesis deals with quantum transport through strongly correlated systems using...

  3. On the existence and dynamics of braneworld black holes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fitzpatrick, Andrew Liam; Randall, Lisa; Wiseman, Toby

    2006-01-01

    Based on holographic arguments Tanaka and Emparan et al have claimed that large localized static black holes do not exist in the one-brane Randall-Sundrum model. If such black holes are time-dependent as they propose, there are potentially significant phenomenological and theoretical consequences. We revisit the issue, arguing that their reasoning does not take into account the strongly coupled nature of the holographic theory. We claim that static black holes with smooth metrics should indeed exist in these theories, and give a simple example. However, although the existence of such solutions is relevant to exact and numerical solution searches, such static solutions might be dynamically unstable, again leading to time dependence with phenomenological consequences. We explore a plausible instability, suggested by Tanaka, analogous to that of Gregory and Laflamme, but argue that there is no reliable reason at this point to assume it must exist

  4. Stability of excess demand functions with respect to a strong version of Wald's axiom

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    An, P.T.; Binh, V.T.T.

    2005-04-01

    In this paper, a strong version of Wald's Axiom of excess demand functions Z : P is part of R >0 n → R n is introduced, namely 'there exists σ > 0 such that p,q is part of P,q T Z(p) - δ ≥ 0, vertical bar δ vertical bar T Z(p) + δ > 0''. We show that Z satisfies the strong version of Wald's Axiom iff -Z is a s-quasimonotone function. Consequently, an excess demand function Z satisfies the strong version of Wald's Axiom iff -Z is stable with respect to the pseudomonotonicity (i.e., there exists ε > 0 such that -Z + a fulfills the pseudomonotonicity for all a is part of R n satisfying parallel a parallel < ε). Some properties on the measure of the strong version of Wald's Axiom of excess demand functions are presented. (author)

  5. Tropospheric mid-latitude geopotential wave characteristics associated with strong wind events in the North Atlantic/European region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wild, Simon; Simmonds, Ian; Leckebusch, Gregor C.

    2015-04-01

    The variability of strong synoptic scale wind events in the mid-latitudes have long been linked to baroclinic wave activity in the mid troposphere. Previous studies have also shown that greater amplitudes of planetary waves in the mid troposphere are likely to increase the occurrence of regional extremes in temperature and precipitation. In this study we examine whether characteristics of planetary and synoptic mid-latitude waves show systematic anomalies in the North Atlantic/ European region which can be related to the occurrence of a strong surface wind event. We will mainly focus on two questions: 1) Do amplitudes for waves with different wave lengths show a systematic anomaly when a strong wind event occurs? 2) Can phases of the individual wave components be detected that favour strong wind events? In order to decompose the mid-tropospheric flow into longitudinal waves we employ the fast Fourier transform to the meridional mean of the geopotential height in 500hPa between 35° and 60°N for i) the entire latitude belt and ii) for a North Atlantic/European sector (36°W to 36°E). Our definition of strong wind events is based on the Storm Severity Index (SSI) alongside a wind tracking algorithm identifying areas of exceedances of the local 98th percentile of the 10m wind speed. First results using ERA-Interim Reanalysis from 1979 - 2014 for the extended winter season (ONDJFM) for the 50 most intense strong wind systems with respect to the SSI reveal a greater amplitude for all investigated wave numbers. Especially waves with wave lengths below 2000km show an increase of about 25% of the daily standard deviation on average. The distribution of wave phases for the different wave numbers with respect to the location of a strong wind event shows a less homogenous picture. There is however a high proportion of events that can be associated with phases around 3π/4 and 5π/4 of waves with lengths of around 6000km, equivalent to wave number 5 on a planetary scale

  6. Strongly correlated perovskite fuel cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, You; Guan, Xiaofei; Zhou, Hua; Ramadoss, Koushik; Adam, Suhare; Liu, Huajun; Lee, Sungsik; Shi, Jian; Tsuchiya, Masaru; Fong, Dillon D.; Ramanathan, Shriram

    2016-06-01

    Fuel cells convert chemical energy directly into electrical energy with high efficiencies and environmental benefits, as compared with traditional heat engines. Yttria-stabilized zirconia is perhaps the material with the most potential as an electrolyte in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), owing to its stability and near-unity ionic transference number. Although there exist materials with superior ionic conductivity, they are often limited by their ability to suppress electronic leakage when exposed to the reducing environment at the fuel interface. Such electronic leakage reduces fuel cell power output and the associated chemo-mechanical stresses can also lead to catastrophic fracture of electrolyte membranes. Here we depart from traditional electrolyte design that relies on cation substitution to sustain ionic conduction. Instead, we use a perovskite nickelate as an electrolyte with high initial ionic and electronic conductivity. Since many such oxides are also correlated electron systems, we can suppress the electronic conduction through a filling-controlled Mott transition induced by spontaneous hydrogen incorporation. Using such a nickelate as the electrolyte in free-standing membrane geometry, we demonstrate a low-temperature micro-fabricated SOFC with high performance. The ionic conductivity of the nickelate perovskite is comparable to the best-performing solid electrolytes in the same temperature range, with a very low activation energy. The results present a design strategy for high-performance materials exhibiting emergent properties arising from strong electron correlations.

  7. Strong ground motion prediction using virtual earthquakes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denolle, M A; Dunham, E M; Prieto, G A; Beroza, G C

    2014-01-24

    Sedimentary basins increase the damaging effects of earthquakes by trapping and amplifying seismic waves. Simulations of seismic wave propagation in sedimentary basins capture this effect; however, there exists no method to validate these results for earthquakes that have not yet occurred. We present a new approach for ground motion prediction that uses the ambient seismic field. We apply our method to a suite of magnitude 7 scenario earthquakes on the southern San Andreas fault and compare our ground motion predictions with simulations. Both methods find strong amplification and coupling of source and structure effects, but they predict substantially different shaking patterns across the Los Angeles Basin. The virtual earthquake approach provides a new approach for predicting long-period strong ground motion.

  8. Addressing the strong CP problem with quark mass ratios

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Diaz-Cruz, J.L.; Saldana-Salazar, U.J. [Benemerita Univ. Autonoma de Puebla (Mexico). Facultad de Ciencias Fisico-Matematicas; Hollik, W.G. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany)

    2016-05-15

    The strong CP problem is one of many puzzles in the theoretical description of elementary particles physics that still lacks an explanation. Solutions to that problem usually comprise new symmetries or fields or both. The main problem seems to be how to achieve small CP in the strong interactions despite large CP violation in weak interactions. Observation of CP violation is exclusively through the Higgs-Yukawa interactions. In this letter, we show that with minimal assumptions on the structure of mass (Yukawa) matrices the strong CP problem does not exist in the Standard Model and no extension to solve this is needed. However, to solve the flavor puzzle, models based on minimal SU(3) flavor groups leading to the proposed flavor matrices are favored.

  9. Addressing the strong CP problem with quark mass ratios

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diaz-Cruz, J.L.; Saldana-Salazar, U.J.

    2016-05-01

    The strong CP problem is one of many puzzles in the theoretical description of elementary particles physics that still lacks an explanation. Solutions to that problem usually comprise new symmetries or fields or both. The main problem seems to be how to achieve small CP in the strong interactions despite large CP violation in weak interactions. Observation of CP violation is exclusively through the Higgs-Yukawa interactions. In this letter, we show that with minimal assumptions on the structure of mass (Yukawa) matrices the strong CP problem does not exist in the Standard Model and no extension to solve this is needed. However, to solve the flavor puzzle, models based on minimal SU(3) flavor groups leading to the proposed flavor matrices are favored.

  10. Is maternal nutrition knowledge more strongly associated with the diets of mothers or their school-aged children?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Lauren; Campbell, Karen; Abbott, Gavin; Crawford, David; Ball, Kylie

    2012-08-01

    Maternal nutrition knowledge has frequently been identified as an important target for nutrition promotion interventions. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether maternal nutrition knowledge is more strongly associated with the mother's own diet or that of her child. Cross-sectional multivariate linear regression with interactions analyses of survey data. Socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Victoria, Australia. Five hundred and twenty-three mothers and their children who participated in the Resilience for Eating and Physical Activity Despite Inequality (READI) study, a cross-sectional survey study conducted in 2009 among women and their children residing in socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods. In adjusted models, for three (vegetable, chocolate/lollies and soft drink consumption) out of the seven dietary outcomes assessed, there was a significant association between maternal nutrition knowledge and maternal diet, whereas for the children's diets none of the seven outcomes were associated with maternal nutrition knowledge. Statistical comparison of regression coefficients showed no difference between the maternal nutrition knowledge-maternal diet association and the maternal nutrition knowledge-child diet association. Promoting maternal nutrition knowledge may represent an important avenue for improving diet in mothers from socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods, but more information is needed on how and when this knowledge is translated to benefits for their children's diet.

  11. DNA to DNA transcription might exist in eukaryotic cells

    OpenAIRE

    Li, Gao-De

    2016-01-01

    Till now, in biological sciences, the term, transcription, mainly refers to DNA to RNA transcription. But our recently published experimental findings obtained from Plasmodium falciparum strongly suggest the existence of DNA to DNA transcription in the genome of eukaryotic cells, which could shed some light on the functions of certain noncoding DNA in the human and other eukaryotic genomes.

  12. Comparison of QRS Duration and Associated Cardiovascular Events in American Indian Men Versus Women (The Strong Heart Study).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deen, Jason F; Rhoades, Dorothy A; Noonan, Carolyn; Best, Lyle G; Okin, Peter M; Devereux, Richard B; Umans, Jason G

    2017-06-01

    Electrocardiographic QRS duration at rest is associated with sudden cardiac death and death from coronary heart disease in the general population. However, its relation to cardiovascular events in American Indians, a population with persistently high cardiovascular disease mortality, is unknown. The relation of QRS duration to incident cardiovascular disease during 17.2 years of follow-up was assessed in 1,851 male and female Strong Heart Study participants aged 45 to 74 years without known cardiovascular disease at baseline. Cox regression with robust standard error estimates was used to determine the association between quintiles of QRS duration and incident cardiovascular disease in gender-stratified analyses, adjusted for age, systolic blood pressure, hypertension, antihypertensive medication use, body mass index, current smoking, diabetes, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and albuminuria. In women only, QRS duration in the highest quintile (≥105 ms) conferred significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease than QRS duration in the lowest quintile (64 to 84 ms) (hazard ratio 1.6, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.4) likely because of higher risks of coronary heart disease (hazard ratio 1.8, 95% CI 1.1 to 3.1) and myocardial infarction (hazard ratio 2.1, 95% CI 1.0 to 4.7). Furthermore, when added to the Strong Heart Study Coronary Heart Disease Risk Calculator, QRS duration significantly improved prediction of future coronary heart disease events in women (Net Reclassification Index 0.17, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.47). In conclusion, QRS duration is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease in women in the Strong Heart Study cohort and may have value in estimating risk in populations with similar risk profiles and a high lifetime incidence of cardiovascular disease. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Gauge unification of basic forces particularly of gravitation with strong interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salam, A.

    1977-01-01

    Corresponding to the two known types of gauge theories, Yang-Mills with spin-one mediating particles and Einstein Weyl with spin-two mediating particles, it is speculated that two distinct gauge unifications of the basic forces appear to be taking place. One is the familiar Yang-Mills unification of weak and electromagnetic forces with the strong. The second is the less familiar gauge unification of gravitation with spin-two tensor-dominated aspects of strong interactions. It is proposed that there are strongly interacting spin-two strong gravitons obeying Einstein's equations, and their existence gives a clue to an understanding of the (partial) confinement of quarks, as well as of the concept of hadronic temperature, through the use of Schwarzschild de-Sitter-like partially confining solitonic solutions of the strong gravity Einstein equation

  14. Strong coupling in F-theory and geometrically non-Higgsable seven-branes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James Halverson

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Geometrically non-Higgsable seven-branes carry gauge sectors that cannot be broken by complex structure deformation, and there is growing evidence that such configurations are typical in F-theory. We study strongly coupled physics associated with these branes. Axiodilaton profiles are computed using Ramanujan's theories of elliptic functions to alternative bases, showing explicitly that the string coupling is O(1 in the vicinity of the brane; that it sources nilpotent SL(2,Z monodromy and therefore the associated brane charges are modular; and that essentially all F-theory compactifications have regions with order one string coupling. It is shown that non-perturbative SU(3 and SU(2 seven-branes are related to weakly coupled counterparts with D7-branes via deformation-induced Hanany–Witten moves on (p,q string junctions that turn them into fundamental open strings; only the former may exist for generic complex structure. D3-brane near these and the Kodaira type II seven-branes probe Argyres–Douglas theories. The BPS states of slightly deformed theories are shown to be dyonic string junctions.

  15. NATO Advanced Study Institute on Atoms in Strong Fields

    CERN Document Server

    Clark, Charles; Nayfeh, Munir

    1990-01-01

    This book collects the lectures given at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Atoms in Strong Fields", which took place on the island of Kos, Greece, during the two weeks of October 9-21,1988. The designation "strong field" applies here to an external electromagnetic field that is sufficiently strong to cause highly nonlinear alterations in atomic or molecular struc­ ture and dynamics. The specific topics treated in this volume fall into two general cater­ gories, which are those for which strong field effects can be studied in detail in terrestrial laboratories: the dynamics of excited states in static or quasi-static electric and magnetic fields; and the interaction of atoms and molecules with intense laser radiation. In both areas there exist promising opportunities for research of a fundamental nature. An electric field of even a few volts per centimeter can be very strong on the atom­ ic scale, if it acts upon a weakly bound state. The study of Rydberg states with high reso­ lution laser spectroscop...

  16. Association of the severity of diabetes-related complications with stage of breast cancer at diagnosis among elderly women with pre-existing diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alenzi, Ebtihag O; Madhavan, S Suresh; Tan, Xi

    2018-01-01

    This study assessed the association between the severity of diabetes complications using diabetes complications severity index (DCSI) and stage of breast cancer (BC) at diagnosis among elderly women with pre-existing diabetes and incident BC. Using Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results-Medicare data, we identified women with incident BC during 2004-2011 and pre-existing diabetes (N = 7729). Chi-square tests were used to test for group differences in stage of BC at diagnosis. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the associations between the severity of diabetes complications and stage of BC at diagnosis. Overall, women with a DCSI = 2 and a DCSI ≥ 3 were more likely to be diagnosed at advanced stages as compared to those with no diabetes complications. In full adjusted association (after adding BC screening to the analysis model), the severity of diabetes complications was no longer an independent predictor of advanced stages at diagnosis. However, women with a DCSI = 2 were 26% more likely to be diagnosed at stage I (versus stage 0) of BC at diagnosis as compared to those without diabetes complications (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.03-1.53). The increased likelihood of having advanced-stage BC at diagnosis associated with severity of diabetes-related complications appears to be mediated by lower rates of breast cancer screening among elderly women with pre-existing diabetes complications. Therefore, reducing disparity in receiving breast cancer screening among elderly women with diabetes may reduce the risk of advanced-stage breast cancer diagnosis.

  17. Two (multi point nonlinear Lyapunov systems associated with an n th order nonlinear system of differential equations – existence and uniqueness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Murty K. N.

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a criterion for the existence and uniqueness of solutions to two and multipoint boundary value problems associated with an n th order nonlinear Lyapunov system. A variation of parameters formula is developed and used as a tool to obtain existence and uniqueness. We discuss solution of the second order problem by the ADI method and develop a fixed point method to find the general solution of the n th order Lyapunov system. The results of Barnett (SIAM J. Appl. Anal. 24(1, 1973 are a particular case.

  18. Association between vitamin D deficiency and pre-existing resistance-associated hepatitis C virus NS5A variants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okubo, Tomomi; Atsukawa, Masanori; Tsubota, Akihito; Shimada, Noritomo; Abe, Hiroshi; Yoshizawa, Kai; Arai, Taeang; Nakagawa, Ai; Itokawa, Norio; Kondo, Chisa; Aizawa, Yoshio; Iwakiri, Katsuhiko

    2017-06-01

    Although interferon-free therapy with direct-acting antivirals has developed as a standard of care for chronic hepatitis C, the existence of resistance-associated variants (RAVs) has a negative impact on treatment results. Recently, several studies indicated a relationship between chronic hepatitis C and serum vitamin D levels. However, the relationship between RAVs at the hepatitis C virus non-structure 5A (NS5A) region and serum vitamin D level has not yet been examined. Among patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C who were enrolled in a multicenter cooperative study, our subjects comprised 247 patients in whom it was possible to measure RAVs at the NS5A region. These RAVs were measured using a direct sequencing method. The median age of patients was 70 years (range, 24-87 years), and the number of female patients was 135 (54.7%). The median serum 25(OH) D3 level was 22 ng/mL (range, 6-64 ng/mL). L31 and Y93 RAVs at the NS5A region were detected in 3.7% (9/247) and 13.4% (33/247) of patients, respectively. Multivariate analysis identified vitamin D deficiency (serum 25(OH) D3 ≤ 20 ng/mL) (P = 5.91 × 10⁻ 5 , odds ratio = 5.015) and elderly age (>70 years) (P = 1.85 × 10 -3 , odds ratio = 3.364) as contributing independent factors associated with the presence of the L31 and/or Y93 RAVs. The Y93H RAV was detected in 25.9% (29/112) of patients with a vitamin D deficiency, and in 8.9% (12/135) of those with a serum 25(OH) D3 level >20 ng/mL (P = 4.90 × 10 -3 ). We showed that RAVs at the NS5A region are associated with vitamin D deficiency and elderly age, which may have a negative influence on innate/adaptive immune responses to hepatitis C virus infection. © 2016 The Japan Society of Hepatology.

  19. Atomic and Free Electrons in a Strong Light Field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fedorov, Mikhail V.

    1998-02-01

    This book presents and describes a series of unusual and striking strong-field phenomena concerning atoms and free electrons. Some of these phenomena are: multiphoton stimulated Bremsstrahlung, free-electron lasers, ave-packet physics, above-threshold ionization, and strong-field stabilization in Rydberg atoms. The theoretical foundations and causes of the phenomena are described in detail, with all the approximations and derivations discussed. All the known and relevant experiments are described oo, and their results are compared with those of the existing theoretical models. An extensive general theoretical introduction gives a good basis for subsequent parts of the book and is an independent and self-sufficient description of the most efficient theoretical methods of the strong-field and multiphoton physics. This book can serve as a textbook for graduate students

  20. Least cost addition of power from hydroelectrical developments: Maximizing existing assets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Felix, Lafontant; Briand, Marie-Helene; Veilleux, Rheaume

    2010-09-15

    Hydroelectric developments built in the early 1900's are nearing their useful lifespan and require significant rehabilitation in order to meet modern safety and performance criteria. Also, global increasing energy costs represent a strong incentive for operators to find low-cost, environment-friendly solutions while increasing energy generation at existing facilities. Projects promoting innovative ways of recycling existing developments are great examples of sustainable development and represent win-win solutions for population and hydropower industry alike. The proposed presentation describes successful projects consisting in the rehabilitation or addition of power to existing hydroelectric. These recycling projects are very attractive from both economic and environmental.

  1. QCD : the theory of strong interactions Conference MT17

    CERN Multimedia

    2001-01-01

    The theory of strong interactions,Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), predicts that the strong interaction is transmitted by the exchange of particles called gluons. Unlike the messengers of electromagnetism photons, which are electrically neutral - gluons carry a strong charge associated with the interaction they mediate. QCD predicts that the strength of the interaction between quarks and gluons becomes weaker at higher energies. LEP has measured the evolution of the strong coupling constant up to energies of 200 GeV and has confirmed this prediction.

  2. Strong saturable absorption of black titanium oxide nanoparticle films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Rong-Fang; Guo, Deng-Zhu; Zhang, Geng-Min

    2017-12-01

    Nonlinear optical materials with strong saturable absorption (SA) properties play an essential role in passive mode-locking generation of ultrafast lasers. Here we report black TiO2-x nanoparticles are promising candidate for such an application. Black TiO2-x nanoparticles are synthesized by using cathodic plasma electrolysis, and nanoparticle films are deposited on optical glass plates via natural sedimentation and post annealing. Characterization of the samples with TEM, SEM, XRD and XPS reveal that nanoparticles have diameters of 8-70 nm, and are in polycrystalline structure and co-existence of anatase, rutile and abundant oxygen-deficient phases. Optical transmittance and reflectance measurements with a UV/VIS/NIR spectrophotometer evidence an excellent wide-spectral optical absorption property. The nonlinear optical properties of the samples were measured by using open-aperture Z-scan technique with picosecond 532-nm laser, and verified by direct transmission measurements using nanosecond 1064-nm laser. Strong SA behavior was detected, and the nonlinear absorption coefficient is as high as β = - 4.9 × 10-8 m/W, at least two orders larger than most previous reports on ordinary TiO2. The strong SA behaviors are ascribed to the existence of plenty surface states and defect states within bandgap, and the relaxation rates of electrons from upper energy levels to lower ones are much slower than excitation rates.

  3. Elements of a strong and healthy interagency partnership

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boucher, Laurel

    2013-01-01

    In an era of budget cuts and declining resources, an increased need exists for government agencies to develop formal and informal partnerships. Such partnerships are a means through which government agencies can use their resources to accomplish together what they cannot accomplish on their own. Interagency partnerships may involve multiple government agencies, private contractors, national laboratories, technology developers, public representatives, and other stakeholders. Four elements of strong and healthy interagency partnerships are presented as well as three needs that must be satisfied for the partnership to last. A diagnostic tool to measure the strength of these building blocks within an existing partnership is provided. Tools, techniques, and templates to develop these fundamental elements within a new partnership or to strengthen those within an already existing partnership are presented. This includes a comprehensive template for a partnership agreement along with practical suggestions as membership, operations, and decisions-making. (authors)

  4. The extended reciprocity: Strong belief outperforms persistence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurokawa, Shun

    2017-05-21

    The existence of cooperation is a mysterious phenomenon and demands explanation, and direct reciprocity is one key potential explanation for the evolution of cooperation. Direct reciprocity allows cooperation to evolve for cooperators who switch their behavior on the basis of information about the opponent's behavior. Here, relevant to direct reciprocity is information deficiency. When the opponent's last move is unknown, how should players behave? One possibility is to choose cooperation with some default probability without using any further information. In fact, our previous paper (Kurokawa, 2016a) examined this strategy. However, there might be beneficial information other than the opponent's last move. A subsequent study of ours (Kurokawa, 2017) examined the strategy which uses the own last move when the opponent's last move is unknown, and revealed that referring to the own move and trying to imitate it when information is absent is beneficial. Is there any other beneficial information else? How about strong belief (i.e., have infinite memory and believe that the opponent's behavior is unchanged)? Here, we examine the evolution of strategies with strong belief. Analyzing the repeated prisoner's dilemma game and using evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) analysis against an invasion by unconditional defectors, we find the strategy with strong belief is more likely to evolve than the strategy which does not use information other than the opponent player's last move and more likely to evolve than the strategy which uses not only the opponent player's last move but also the own last move. Strong belief produces the extended reciprocity and facilitates the evolution of cooperation. Additionally, we consider the two strategies game between strategies with strong belief and any strategy, and we consider the four strategies game in which unconditional cooperators, unconditional defectors, pessimistic reciprocators with strong belief, and optimistic reciprocators with

  5. QCD : the theory of strong interactions Exhibition LEPFest 2000

    CERN Multimedia

    2000-01-01

    The theory of strong interactions,Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD),predicts that the strong interac- tion is transmitted by the exchange of particles called glu- ons.Unlike the messengers of electromagnetism -pho- tons,which are electrically neutral -gluons carry a strong charge associated with the interaction they mediate. QCD predicts that the strength of the interaction between quarks and gluons becomes weaker at higher energies.LEP has measured the evolution of the strong coupling constant up to energies of 200 GeV and has confirmed this prediction.

  6. Diabetes is a strong predictor of mortality during tuberculosis treatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Faurholt-Jepsen, Daniel; Range, Nyagosya; PrayGod, George

    2013-01-01

    Strong evidence suggests diabetes may be associated with tuberculosis (TB) and could influence TB treatment outcomes. We assessed the role of diabetes on sputum culture conversion and mortality among patients undergoing TB treatment.......Strong evidence suggests diabetes may be associated with tuberculosis (TB) and could influence TB treatment outcomes. We assessed the role of diabetes on sputum culture conversion and mortality among patients undergoing TB treatment....

  7. Kinetics-Driven Superconducting Gap in Underdoped Cuprate Superconductors Within the Strong-Coupling Limit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yucel Yildirim

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available A generic theory of the quasiparticle superconducting gap in underdoped cuprates is derived in the strong-coupling limit, and found to describe the experimental “second gap” in absolute scale. In drastic contrast to the standard pairing gap associated with Bogoliubov quasiparticle excitations, the quasiparticle gap is shown to originate from anomalous kinetic (scattering processes, with a size unrelated to the pairing strength. Consequently, the k dependence of the gap deviates significantly from the pure d_{x^{2}-y^{2}} wave of the order parameter. Our study reveals a new paradigm for the nature of the superconducting gap, and is expected to reconcile numerous apparent contradictions among existing experiments and point toward a more coherent understanding of high-temperature superconductivity.

  8. Two-dimensional QCD as a model for strong interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ellis, J.

    1977-01-01

    After an introduction to the formalism of two-dimensional QCD, its applications to various strong interaction processes are reviewed. Among the topics discussed are spectroscopy, deep inelastic cross-sections, ''hard'' processes involving hadrons, ''Regge'' behaviour, the existence of the Pomeron, and inclusive hadron cross-sections. Attempts are made to abstracts features useful for four-dimensional QCD phenomenology. (author)

  9. Contour plot assessment of existing meta-analyses confirms robust association of statin use and acute kidney injury risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chevance, Aurélie; Schuster, Tibor; Steele, Russell; Ternès, Nils; Platt, Robert W

    2015-10-01

    Robustness of an existing meta-analysis can justify decisions on whether to conduct an additional study addressing the same research question. We illustrate the graphical assessment of the potential impact of an additional study on an existing meta-analysis using published data on statin use and the risk of acute kidney injury. A previously proposed graphical augmentation approach is used to assess the sensitivity of the current test and heterogeneity statistics extracted from existing meta-analysis data. In addition, we extended the graphical augmentation approach to assess potential changes in the pooled effect estimate after updating a current meta-analysis and applied the three graphical contour definitions to data from meta-analyses on statin use and acute kidney injury risk. In the considered example data, the pooled effect estimates and heterogeneity indices demonstrated to be considerably robust to the addition of a future study. Supportingly, for some previously inconclusive meta-analyses, a study update might yield statistically significant kidney injury risk increase associated with higher statin exposure. The illustrated contour approach should become a standard tool for the assessment of the robustness of meta-analyses. It can guide decisions on whether to conduct additional studies addressing a relevant research question. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Magnetic properties of strongly asymmetric nuclear matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kutschera, M.; Wojcik, W.

    1988-01-01

    We investigate stability of neutron matter containing a small proton admixture with respect to spin fluctuations. We establish conditions under which strongly asymmetric nuclear matter could acquire a permanent magnetization. It is shown that if the protons are localized, the system becomes unstable to spin fluctuations for arbitrarily weak proton-neutron spin interactions. For non-localized protons there exists a threshold value of the spin interaction above which the system can develop a spontaneous polarization. 12 refs., 2 figs. (author)

  11. Picard iterations for nonlinear Lipschitz strong pseudo-contractions in uniformly smooth Banach spaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chidume, C.E.

    1995-06-01

    Suppose E is a real uniformly smooth Banach space and K is a nonempty closed convex and bounded subset of E, T:K → K is a Lipschitz pseudo-contraction. It is proved that the Picard iterates of a suitably defined operator converges strongly to the unique fixed point of T. Furthermore, this result also holds for the slightly larger class of Lipschitz strong hemi-contractions. Related results deal with strong convergence of the Picard iterates to the unique solution of operator equations involving Lipschitz strongly accretive maps. Apart from establishing strong convergence, our theorems give existence, uniqueness and convergence-rate which is at least as fast as a geometric progression. (author). 51 refs

  12. Solar cycle distribution of strong solar proton events and the related solar-terrestrial phenomena

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le, Guiming; Yang, Xingxing; Ding, Liuguang; Liu, Yonghua; Lu, Yangping; Chen, Minhao

    2014-08-01

    We investigated the solar cycle distribution of strong solar proton events (SPEs, peak flux ≥1000 pfu) and the solar-terrestrial phenomena associated with the strong SPEs during solar cycles 21-23. The results show that 37 strong SPEs were registered over this period of time, where 20 strong SPEs were originated from the super active regions (SARs) and 28 strong SPEs were accompanied by the X-class flares. Most strong SPEs were not associated with the ground level enhancement (GLE) event. Most strong SPEs occurred in the descending phases of the solar cycles. The weaker the solar cycle, the higher the proportion of strong SPES occurred in the descending phase of the cycle. The number of the strong SPEs that occurred within a solar cycle is poorly associated with the solar cycle size. The intensity of the SPEs is highly dependent of the location of their source regions, with the super SPEs (≥20000 pfu) distributed around solar disk center. A super SPE was always accompanied by a fast shock driven by the associated coronal mass ejection and a great geomagnetic storm. The source location of strongest GLE event is distributed in the well-connected region. The SPEs associated with super GLE events (peak increase rate ≥100%) which have their peak flux much lower than 10000 pfu were not accompanied by an intense geomagnetic storm.

  13. Strong Nuclear Gravitational Constant and the Origin of Nuclear Planck Scale

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seshavatharam U. V. S.

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Whether it may be real or an equivalent, existence of strong nuclear gravitational con- stant G S is assumed. Its value is obtained from Fermi’s weak coupling constant as G S = 6 : 9427284 10 31 m 3 / kg sec 2 and thus “nuclear planck scale” is defined. For strong interaction existence of a new integral charged “confined fermion” of mass 105.383 MeV is assumed. Strong coupling constant is the ratio of nuclear planck energy = 11.97 MeV and assumed 105.383 MeV. 1 s = X s is defined as the strong interaction mass gen- erator. With 105.383 MeV fermion various nuclear unit radii are fitted. Fermi’s weak coupling constant, strong interaction upper limit and Bohr radius are fitted at funda- mental level. Considering Fermi’s weak coupling constant and nuclear planck length a new number X e = 294.8183 is defined for fitting the electron, muon and tau rest masses. Using X s , X e and 105 : 32 = 0 : 769 MeV as the Coulombic energy constant = E c , en- ergy coe cients of the semi-empirical mass formula are estimated as E v = 16 : 32 MeV ; E s = 19 : 37 MeV ; E a = 23 : 86 MeV and E p = 11 : 97 MeV where Coulombic energy term contains [ Z ] 2 : Starting from Z = 2 nuclear binding energy is fitted with two terms along with only one energy constant = 0.769 MeV. Finally nucleon mass and its excited levels are fitted.

  14. Strong drifts effects on neoclassical transport

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tessarotto, M.; Gregoratto, D.; White, R.B.

    1996-01-01

    It is well known that strong drifts play an important role in plasma equilibrium, stability and confinement A significant example concerns, in particular for tokamak plasmas, the case of strong toroidal differential rotation produced by E x B drift which is currently regarded as potentially important for its influence in equilibrium, stability and transport. In fact, theoretically, it has been found that shear flow can substantially affect the stability of microinstabilities as well modify substantially transport. Recent experimental observations of enhanced confinement and transport regimes in Tokamaks, show, however, evidence of the existence of strong drifts in the plasma core. These are produced not only by the radial electric field [which gives rise to the E x B drift], but also by density [N s ], temperature [T s ] and mass flow [V = ωRe var-phi , with e var-phi the toroidal unit vector, R the distance for the symmetry axis of the torus and ω being the toroidal angular rotation velocity] profiles which are suitably steep. This implies that, in a significant part of the plasma core, the relevant scale lengths of the gradients [of N s , T s , ω], i.e., respectively L N , L T and L ω can be as large as the radial scale length characterizing the banana orbits, L b . Interestingly enough, the transport estimates obtained appear close or even lower than the predictions based on the simplest neoclassical model. However, as is well known, the latter applies, in a strict sense only in the case of weak drifts and also ignoring even the contribution of shear flow related to strong E x B drift. Thus a fundamental problem appears the extension of neoclassical transport theory to include the effect of strong drifts in Tokamak confinement systems. The goal of this investigation is to develop a general formulation of neoclassical transport embodying such important feature

  15. High resolution MRI of the breast at 3 T: which BI-RADS registered descriptors are most strongly associated with the diagnosis of breast cancer?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pinker-Domenig, K.; Helbich, T.H.; Bogner, W.; Gruber, S.; Bickel, H.; Duffy, S.; Schernthaner, M.; Dubsky, P.; Pluschnig, U.; Rudas, M.; Trattnig, S.

    2012-01-01

    To identify which breast lesion descriptors in the ACR BI-RADS registered MRI lexicon are most strongly associated with the diagnosis of breast cancer when performing breast MR imaging at 3 T. 150 patients underwent breast MR imaging at 3 T. Lesion size, morphology and enhancement kinetics were assessed according to the BI-RADS registered classification. Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy were assessed. The effects of the BI-RADS registered descriptors on sensitivity and specificity were evaluated. Data were analysed using logistic regression. Histopathological diagnoses were used as the standard of reference. The sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of breast MRI at 3 T was 99%, 81% and 93%, respectively. In univariate analysis, the final diagnosis of malignancy was positively associated with irregular shape (p registered breast lesion descriptors that are mostly strongly associated with breast cancer in breast MR imaging at 3 T are lesion shape, lesion margin, internal enhancement pattern and Type 3 enhancement kinetics. (orig.)

  16. Direct and reverse inclusions for strongly multiple summing operators

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    and strongly multiple summing operators under the assumption that the range has finite cotype. Keywords. .... multiple (q, p)-summing, if there exists a constant C ≥ 0 such that for every choice of systems (x j i j )1≤i j ≤m j ...... Ideals and their Applications in Theoretical Physics (1983) (Leipzig: Teubner-Texte) pp. 185–199.

  17. Use of strong opioids for chronic pain in osteoarthritis: an insight into the Latin American reality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruiz Iban, Miguel Angel; Benavides, Javier; Forero, Juan Pablo; Bittelman, Sacha; Martinez, Rafael; Mite, Miguel Angel; Diaz Heredia, Jorge; Ulloa, Sergio; Lizárraga Ferrand, Mauro Marcelo

    2018-01-01

    Osteoarthritis is the most common cause of arthritis and one of the main causes of chronic pain. Although opioids are frequently employed for chronic pain treatment, their usage for osteoarthritis pain remains controversial due to the associated adverse effects. Most guidelines reserve their use for refractory pain in patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis. The situation is even more complex in Latin America, where the prevalence of insufficient pain treatment is high because of the limited availability and use of strong opioids. Areas covered: In this article we review the epidemiology of osteoarthritis, its socioeconomic burden, its impact as a chronic pain cause and the pharmacological treatment options, giving emphasis to the role of strong opioids, their safety and efficacy, especially in Latin American countries, where restrictions regulate their usage. Expert commentary: Usage of strong opioids is safe and effective in the short-term management of osteoarthritis with moderate to severe pain, when other pharmacological treatments are inadequate and surgery is contraindicated, provided their use adheres to existing guidelines. Educational programs for patients and physicians and further research on treating chronic pain with opioids should be implemented to reduce adverse effects and improve care quality.

  18. Existence families, functional calculi and evolution equations

    CERN Document Server

    deLaubenfels, Ralph

    1994-01-01

    This book presents an operator-theoretic approach to ill-posed evolution equations. It presents the basic theory, and the more surprising examples, of generalizations of strongly continuous semigroups known as 'existent families' and 'regularized semigroups'. These families of operators may be used either to produce all initial data for which a solution in the original space exists, or to construct a maximal subspace on which the problem is well-posed. Regularized semigroups are also used to construct functional, or operational, calculi for unbounded operators. The book takes an intuitive and constructive approach by emphasizing the interaction between functional calculus constructions and evolution equations. One thinks of a semigroup generated by A as etA and thinks of a regularized semigroup generated by A as etA g(A), producing solutions of the abstract Cauchy problem for initial data in the image of g(A). Material that is scattered throughout numerous papers is brought together and presented in a fresh, ...

  19. Measurements of Properties of the Strong and Electroweak forces with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Gregersen, Kristian; The ATLAS collaboration

    2015-01-01

    The Standard Model of particle physics is built around the idea of local gauge symmetries, leading to the existence of vector bosons, mediators of the strong and electroweak forces. The production of single and multiple electroweak vector bosons in p-p collisions in LHC Run-1 has been extensively studied by the ATLAS Collaboration. The production of charged and neutral weak gauge bosons via the Drell Yan process, is sensitive to high-order effects in the strong force, the proton structure and electroweak corrections. Cross section measurements of a W or Z boson in association with up to seven jets are reported. Interference effects between the exchange of photons and Z bosons can be used for the measurements of Standard Model parameters with high precision, such as the weak mixing angle from the forward-backward asymmetry. The Standard Model makes detailed predictions on the production of multiple W, Z and isolated photons, which are fixed by the gauge symmetry. Measurements involving two or three bosons in t...

  20. Measurements of Properties of the Strong and Electroweak forces with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00236292; The ATLAS collaboration

    2016-01-01

    The Standard Model of particle physics is built around the idea of local gauge symmetries, leading to the existence of vector bosons, mediators of the strong and electroweak forces. The production of single and multiple electroweak vector bosons in p-p collisions in LHC Run-1 has been extensively studied by the ATLAS Collaboration. The production of charged and neutral weak gauge bosons via the Drell Yan process, is sensitive to high-order effects in the strong force, the proton structure and electroweak corrections. Cross section measurements of a W or Z boson in association with up to seven jets are reported. Interference effects between the exchange of photons and Z bosons can be used for the measurements of Standard Model parameters with high precision, such as the weak mixing angle from the forward-backward asymmetry. The Standard Model makes detailed predictions on the production of multiple W, Z and isolated photons, which are fixed by the gauge symmetry. Measurements involving two or three bosons in t...

  1. Does evaporation paradox exist in China?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Z. T. Cong

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available One expected consequence of global warming is the increase in evaporation. However, lots of observations show that the rate of evaporation from open pans of water has been steadily decreasing all over the world in the past 50 years. The contrast between expectation and observation is called "evaporation paradox". Based on data from 317 weather stations in China from 1956 to 2005, the trends of pan evaporation and air temperature were obtained and evaporation paradox was analyzed. The conclusions include: (1 From 1956 to 2005, pan evaporation paradox existed in China as a whole while pan evaporation kept decreasing and air temperature became warmer and warmer, but it does not apply to Northeast and Southeast China; (2 From 1956 to 1985, pan evaporation paradox existed narrowly as a whole with unobvious climate warming trend, but it does not apply to Northeast China; (3 From 1986 to 2005, in the past 20 years, pan evaporation paradox did not exist for the whole period while pan evaporation kept increasing, although it existed in South China. Furthermore, the trend of other weather factors including sunshine duration, windspeed, humidity and vapor pressure deficit, and their relations with pan evaporation are discussed. As a result, it can be concluded that pan evaporation decreasing is caused by the decreasing in radiation and wind speed before 1985 and pan evaporation increasing is caused by the decreasing in vapor pressure deficit due to strong warming after 1986. With the Budyko curve, it can be concluded that the actual evaporation decreased in the former 30 years and increased in the latter 20 year for the whole China.

  2. Self-Reported Visual Perceptual Abnormalities Are Strongly Associated with Core Clinical Features in Psychotic Disorders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brian P. Keane

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundPast studies using the Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms (hereafter, Bonn Scale have shown that self-reported perceptual/cognitive disturbances reveal which persons have or will soon develop schizophrenia. Here, we focused specifically on the clinical value of self-reported visual perceptual abnormalities (VPAs since they are underexplored and have been associated with suicidal ideation, negative symptoms, and objective visual dysfunction.MethodUsing the 17 Bonn Scale vision items, we cross-sectionally investigated lifetime occurrence of VPAs in 21 first-episode psychosis and 22 chronic schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder (SZ/SA patients. Relationships were probed between VPAs and illness duration, symptom severity, current functioning, premorbid functioning, diagnosis, and age of onset.ResultsIncreased VPAs were associated with: earlier age of onset; more delusions, hallucinations, bizarre behavior, and depressive symptoms; and worse premorbid social functioning, especially in the childhood and early adolescent phases. SZ/SA participants endorsed more VPAs as compared to those with schizophreniform or psychotic disorder-NOS, especially in the perception of color, bodies, faces, object movement, and double/reversed vision. The range of self-reported VPAs was strikingly similar between first-episode and chronic patients and did not depend on the type or amount of antipsychotic medication. As a comparative benchmark, lifetime occurrence of visual hallucinations did not depend on diagnosis and was linked only to poor premorbid social functioning.ConclusionA brief 17-item interview derived from the Bonn Scale is strongly associated with core clinical features in schizophrenia. VPAs hold promise for clarifying diagnosis, predicting outcome, and guiding neurocognitive investigations.

  3. Scalings, spectra, and statistics of strong wave turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robinson, P.A.

    1996-01-01

    A two-component model of strongly nonlinear wave turbulence is developed for a broad class of systems in which high-frequency electrostatic waves interact with low-frequency sound-like waves. In this model coherent nonlinear wave packets form and collapse amid a sea of incoherent background waves. It is shown that three classes of turbulence exist, typified by Langmuir, lower-hybrid, and upper-hybrid turbulence. Balance between power input to incoherent waves, and dissipation at the end of collapse determines power-law scalings of turbulent electrostatic energy density, density fluctuations, length and time scales. Knowledge of the evolution of collapsing packets enables probability distributions of the magnitudes of electric fields and density fluctuations to be calculated, yielding power-law dependences. Wavenumber spectra of collapsing waves and associated density fluctuations are also calculated and shown to have power-law forms. Applications to Langmuir, lower-hybrid, and upper-hybrid waves are discussed. In the Langmuir case the results agree with earlier theory and simulations, with one exception, which is consistent only with earlier simulations. In the lower-hybrid and upper-hybrid cases, the results are consistent with the few simulations to date. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

  4. The effect of dust charge inhomogeneity on low-frequency modes in a strongly coupled plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farid, T.; Mamun, A.A.; Shukla, P.K.

    2000-01-01

    An analysis of low-frequency modes accounting for dust grain charge fluctuation and equilibrium grain charge inhomogeneity in a strongly coupled dusty plasma is presented. The existence of an extremely low frequency mode, which is due to the inhomogeneity in the equilibrium dust grain charge, is reported. Besides, the equilibrium dust grain charge inhomogeneity makes the dust-acoustic mode unstable. The strong correlations in the dust fluid significantly drive a new mode as well as the existing dust-acoustic mode. The applications of these results to recent experimental and to some space and astrophysical situations are discussed

  5. Ontological Proofs of Existence and Non-Existence

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hájek, Petr

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 90, č. 2 (2008), s. 257-262 ISSN 0039-3215 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA100300503 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : ontological proofs * existence * non-existence * Gödel * Caramuel Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics

  6. Existing reflection seismic data re-processing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Higashinaka, Motonori; Sano, Yukiko; Kozawa, Takeshi

    2005-08-01

    This document is to report the results of existing seismic data re-processing around Horonobe town, Hokkaido, Japan, which is a part of the Horonobe Underground Research Project. The main purpose of this re-processing is to recognize the subsurface structure of Omagari Fault and fold system around Omagari Fault. The seismic lines for re-processing are TYHR-A3 line and SHRB-2 line, which JAPEX surveyed in 1975. Applying weathering static correction using refraction analysis and noise suppression procedure, we have much enhanced seismic profile. Following information was obtained from seismic re-processing results. TYHR-A3 line: There are strong reflections, dipping to the west. These reflections are corresponding western limb of anticline to the west side of Omagari Fault. SHRB-2 line: There are strong reflections, dipping to the west, at CDP 60-140, while there are reflections, dipping to the east, to the east side of CDP 140. These reflections correspond to the western limb and the eastern limb of the anticline, which is parallel to Omagari FAULT. This seismic re-processing provides some useful information to know the geological structure around Omagari Fault. (author)

  7. Displaced rocks, strong motion, and the mechanics of shallow faulting associated with the 1999 Hector Mine, California, earthquake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michael, Andrew J.; Ross, Stephanie L.; Stenner, Heidi D.

    2002-01-01

    The paucity of strong-motion stations near the 1999 Hector Mine earthquake makes it impossible to make instrumental studies of key questions about near-fault strong-motion patterns associated with this event. However, observations of displaced rocks allow a qualitative investigation of these problems. By observing the slope of the desert surface and the frictional coefficient between these rocks and the desert surface, we estimate the minimum horizontal acceleration needed to displace the rocks. Combining this information with observations of how many rocks were displaced in different areas near the fault, we infer the level of shaking. Given current empirical shaking attenuation relationships, the number of rocks that moved is slightly lower than expected; this implies that slightly lower than expected shaking occurred during the Hector Mine earthquake. Perhaps more importantly, stretches of the fault with 4 m of total displacement at the surface displaced few nearby rocks on 15?? slopes, suggesting that the horizontal accelerations were below 0.2g within meters of the fault scarp. This low level of shaking suggests that the shallow parts of this rupture did not produce strong accelerations. Finally, we did not observe an increased incidence of displaced rocks along the fault zone itself. This suggests that, despite observations of fault-zone-trapped waves generated by aftershocks of the Hector Mine earthquake, such waves were not an important factor in controlling peak ground acceleration during the mainshock.

  8. Variation in genes related to cochlear biology is strongly associated with adult-onset deafness in border collies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer S Yokoyama

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Domestic dogs can suffer from hearing losses that can have profound impacts on working ability and quality of life. We have identified a type of adult-onset hearing loss in Border Collies that appears to have a genetic cause, with an earlier age of onset (3-5 years than typically expected for aging dogs (8-10 years. Studying this complex trait within pure breeds of dog may greatly increase our ability to identify genomic regions associated with risk of hearing impairment in dogs and in humans. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS to detect loci underlying adult-onset deafness in a sample of 20 affected and 28 control Border Collies. We identified a region on canine chromosome 6 that demonstrates extended support for association surrounding SNP Chr6.25819273 (p-value = 1.09 × 10(-13. To further localize disease-associated variants, targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS of one affected and two unaffected dogs was performed. Through additional validation based on targeted genotyping of additional cases (n = 23 total and controls (n = 101 total and an independent replication cohort of 16 cases and 265 controls, we identified variants in USP31 that were strongly associated with adult-onset deafness in Border Collies, suggesting the involvement of the NF-κB pathway. We found additional support for involvement of RBBP6, which is critical for cochlear development. These findings highlight the utility of GWAS-guided fine-mapping of genetic loci using targeted NGS to study hereditary disorders of the domestic dog that may be analogous to human disorders.

  9. A theoretical model of strong and moderate El Niño regimes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, Ken; Karamperidou, Christina; Dewitte, Boris

    2018-02-01

    The existence of two regimes for El Niño (EN) events, moderate and strong, has been previously shown in the GFDL CM2.1 climate model and also suggested in observations. The two regimes have been proposed to originate from the nonlinearity in the Bjerknes feedback, associated with a threshold in sea surface temperature (T_c ) that needs to be exceeded for deep atmospheric convection to occur in the eastern Pacific. However, although the recent 2015-16 EN event provides a new data point consistent with the sparse strong EN regime, it is not enough to statistically reject the null hypothesis of a unimodal distribution based on observations alone. Nevertheless, we consider the possibility suggestive enough to explore it with a simple theoretical model based on the nonlinear Bjerknes feedback. In this study, we implemented this nonlinear mechanism in the recharge-discharge (RD) ENSO model and show that it is sufficient to produce the two EN regimes, i.e. a bimodal distribution in peak surface temperature (T) during EN events. The only modification introduced to the original RD model is that the net damping is suppressed when T exceeds T_c , resulting in a weak nonlinearity in the system. Due to the damping, the model is globally stable and it requires stochastic forcing to maintain the variability. The sustained low-frequency component of the stochastic forcing plays a key role for the onset of strong EN events (i.e. for T>T_c ), at least as important as the precursor positive heat content anomaly (h). High-frequency forcing helps some EN events to exceed T_c , increasing the number of strong events, but the rectification effect is small and the overall number of EN events is little affected by this forcing. Using the Fokker-Planck equation, we show how the bimodal probability distribution of EN events arises from the nonlinear Bjerknes feedback and also propose that the increase in the net feedback with increasing T is a necessary condition for bimodality in the RD

  10. Development of a tool for dispelling myths associated with natal ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Studies have revealed that Nigerians irrespective of social class have negative attitudes and practices towards children born with natal teeth and those who erupt teeth within the first 30 days of life. This has been associated with the strong cultural myths and beliefs that exist among the populace. Children with natal teeth ...

  11. Super symmetry in strong and weak interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seshavatharam, U.V.S.; Lakshminarayana, S.

    2010-01-01

    For strong interaction two new fermion mass units 105.32 MeV and 11450 MeV are assumed. Existence of "Integral charge quark bosons", "Integral charge effective quark fermions", "Integral charge (effective) quark fermi-gluons" and "Integral charge quark boso-gluons" are assumed and their masses are estimated. It is noticed that, characteristic nuclear charged fermion is X s · 105.32 = 938.8 MeV and corresponding charged boson is X s (105.32/x) = 415.0 where X s = 8.914 is the inverse of the strong coupling constant and x = 2.26234 is a new number by using which "super symmetry" can be seen in "strong and weak" interactions. 11450 MeV fermion and its boson of mass = 11450/x = 5060 MeV plays a crucial role in "sub quark physics" and "weak interaction". 938.8 MeV strong fermion seems to be the proton. 415 MeV strong boson seems to be the mother of the presently believed 493,496 and 547 MeV etc, strange mesons. With 11450 MeV fermion "effective quark-fermi-gluons" and with 5060 MeV boson "quark boso-gluon masses" are estimated. "Effective quark fermi-gluons" plays a crucial role in ground state charged baryons mass generation. Light quark bosons couple with these charged baryons to form doublets and triplets. "Quark boso-gluons" plays a crucial role in ground state neutral and charged mesons mass generation. Fine and super-fine rotational levels can be given by [I or (I/2)] power(1/4) and [I or (I/2)] power(1/12) respectively. Here, I = n(n+1) and n = 1, 2, 3, … (author)

  12. Prevention of strong earthquakes: Goal or utopia?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukhamediev, Sh. A.

    2010-11-01

    In the present paper, we consider ideas suggesting various kinds of industrial impact on the close-to-failure block of the Earth’s crust in order to break a pending strong earthquake (PSE) into a number of smaller quakes or aseismic slips. Among the published proposals on the prevention of a forthcoming strong earthquake, methods based on water injection and vibro influence merit greater attention as they are based on field observations and the results of laboratory tests. In spite of this, the cited proofs are, for various reasons, insufficient to acknowledge the proposed techniques as highly substantiated; in addition, the physical essence of these methods has still not been fully understood. First, the key concept of the methods, namely, the release of the accumulated stresses (or excessive elastic energy) in the source region of a forthcoming strong earthquake, is open to objection. If we treat an earthquake as a phenomenon of a loss in stability, then, the heterogeneities of the physicomechanical properties and stresses along the existing fault or its future trajectory, rather than the absolute values of stresses, play the most important role. In the present paper, this statement is illustrated by the classical examples of stable and unstable fractures and by the examples of the calculated stress fields, which were realized in the source regions of the tsunamigenic earthquakes of December 26, 2004 near the Sumatra Island and of September 29, 2009 near the Samoa Island. Here, just before the earthquakes, there were no excessive stresses in the source regions. Quite the opposite, the maximum shear stresses τmax were close to their minimum value, compared to τmax in the adjacent territory. In the present paper, we provide quantitative examples that falsify the theory of the prevention of PSE in its current form. It is shown that the measures for the prevention of PSE, even when successful for an already existing fault, can trigger or accelerate a catastrophic

  13. Holographic gauge mediation via strongly coupled messengers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McGuirk, Paul; Shiu, Gary; Sumitomo, Yoske

    2010-01-01

    We consider a relative of semidirect gauge mediation where the hidden sector exists at large 't Hooft coupling. Such scenarios can be difficult to describe using perturbative field theory methods but may fall into the class of holographic gauge mediation scenarios, meaning that they are amenable to the techniques of gauge/gravity duality. We use a recently found gravity solution to examine one such case, where the hidden sector is a cascading gauge theory resulting in a confinement scale not much smaller than the messenger mass. In the original construction of holographic gauge mediation, as in other examples of semidirect gauge mediation at strong coupling, the primary contributions to visible sector soft terms come from weakly coupled messenger mesons. In contrast to these examples, we describe the dual of a gauge theory where there are significant contributions from scales in which the strongly coupled messenger quarks are the effective degrees of freedom. In this regime, the visible sector gaugino mass can be calculated entirely from holography.

  14. Where the lake meets the sea: strong reproductive isolation is associated with adaptive divergence between lake resident and anadromous three-spined sticklebacks.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark Ravinet

    Full Text Available Contact zones between divergent forms of the same species are often characterised by high levels of phenotypic diversity over small geographic distances. What processes are involved in generating such high phenotypic diversity? One possibility is that introgression and recombination between divergent forms in contact zones results in greater phenotypic and genetic polymorphism. Alternatively, strong reproductive isolation between forms may maintain distinct phenotypes, preventing homogenisation by gene flow. Contact zones between divergent freshwater-resident and anadromous stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L. forms are numerous and common throughout the species distribution, offering an opportunity to examine these contrasting hypotheses in greater detail. This study reports on an interesting new contact zone located in a tidally influenced lake catchment in western Ireland, characterised by high polymorphism for lateral plate phenotypes. Using neutral and QTL-linked microsatellite markers, we tested whether the high diversity observed in this contact zone arose as a result of introgression or reproductive isolation between divergent forms: we found strong support for the latter hypothesis. Three phenotypic and genetic clusters were identified, consistent with two divergent resident forms and a distinct anadromous completely plated population that migrates in and out of the system. Given the strong neutral differentiation detected between all three morphotypes (mean FST = 0.12, we hypothesised that divergent selection between forms maintains reproductive isolation. We found a correlation between neutral genetic and adaptive genetic differentiation that support this. While strong associations between QTL linked markers and phenotypes were also observed in this wild population, our results support the suggestion that such associations may be more complex in some Atlantic populations compared to those in the Pacific. These findings provide an

  15. Existence of Solutions of Abstract Nonlinear Mixed Functional Integrodifferential equation with nonlocal conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dhakne Machindra B.

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we discuss the existence of mild and strong solutions of abstract nonlinear mixed functional integrodifferential equation with nonlocal condition by using Sadovskii’s fixed point theorem and theory of fractional power of operators.

  16. Study on microstructure of transition zone and its strong contrast of single T700 carbon fibers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guo, Xinshuang; Zhang, Kexiang [Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Fan, Zhen; Feng, Zhihai [National Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Composite Materials, Aerospace Research Institute of Materials and Processing Technology, Beijing 100076 (China); He, LianLong, E-mail: llhe@imr.ac.cn [Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016 (China)

    2017-06-01

    Highlights: • The transition zone of T700 carbon fiber was first identified with higher density in addition to higher orientation. • The higher sample density still existed while the higher orientation disappeared after heat treatment at 2800 °C. • The strong contrast of the transition zone mainly results from its higher density. • The transition zone with higher density and orientation may exist not only in the T700 but other PAN-based carbon fibers. - Abstract: The transition zone (TZ) between the skin and core of Toray T700 carbon fiber was investigated by transmission electron microscopy. The higher basal-plane orientation was identified in the TZ compared with the skin and core, but it disappeared after heat treatment at 2800 °C. Plasmon peak energy in the TZ was higher than that in the skin and core about 0.7–0.8 eV, indicating the TZ with higher density. No element concentration existed in the TZ. The TZ with strong contrast manifests itself before and after heat treatment, and formation mechanism of its strong contrast was proposed.

  17. Pre-existing and Postoperative Intimal Hyperplasia and Arteriovenous Fistula Outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tabbara, Marwan; Duque, Juan C; Martinez, Laisel; Escobar, Luis A; Wu, Wensong; Pan, Yue; Fernandez, Natasha; Velazquez, Omaida C; Jaimes, Edgar A; Salman, Loay H; Vazquez-Padron, Roberto I

    2016-09-01

    The contribution of intimal hyperplasia (IH) to arteriovenous fistula (AVF) failure is uncertain. This observational study assessed the relationship between pre-existing, postoperative, and change in IH over time and AVF outcomes. Prospective cohort study with longitudinal assessment of IH at the time of AVF creation (pre-existing) and transposition (postoperative). Patients were followed up for up to 3.3 years. 96 patients from a single center who underwent AVF surgery initially planned as a 2-stage procedure. Veins and AVF samples were collected from 66 and 86 patients, respectively. Matched-pair tissues were available from 56 of these patients. Pre-existing, postoperative, and change in IH over time. Anatomic maturation failure was defined as an AVF that never reached a diameter > 6mm. Primary unassisted patency was defined as the time elapsed from the second-stage surgery to the first intervention. Maximal intimal thickness in veins and AVFs and change in intimal thickness over time. Pre-existing IH (>0.05mm) was present in 98% of patients. In this group, the median intimal thickness increased 4.40-fold (IQR, 2.17- to 4.94-fold) between AVF creation and transposition. However, this change was not associated with pre-existing thickness (r(2)=0.002; P=0.7). Ten of 96 (10%) AVFs never achieved maturation, whereas 70% of vascular accesses remained patent at the end of the observational period. Postoperative IH was not associated with anatomic maturation failure using univariate logistic regression. Pre-existing, postoperative, and change in IH over time had no effects on primary unassisted patency. The small number of patients from whom longitudinal tissue samples were available and low incidence of anatomic maturation failure, which decreased the statistical power to find associations between end points and IH. Pre-existing, postoperative, and change in IH over time were not associated with 2-stage AVF outcomes. Copyright © 2016 National Kidney Foundation, Inc

  18. Growth anomalies on the coral genera Acropora and Porites are strongly associated with host density and human population size across the Indo-Pacific.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Greta S Aeby

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Growth anomalies (GAs are common, tumor-like diseases that can cause significant morbidity and decreased fecundity in the major Indo-Pacific reef-building coral genera, Acropora and Porites. GAs are unusually tractable for testing hypotheses about drivers of coral disease because of their pan-Pacific distributions, relatively high occurrence, and unambiguous ease of identification. We modeled multiple disease-environment associations that may underlie the prevalence of Acropora growth anomalies (AGA (n = 304 surveys and Porites growth anomalies (PGA (n = 602 surveys from across the Indo-Pacific. Nine predictor variables were modeled, including coral host abundance, human population size, and sea surface temperature and ultra-violet radiation anomalies. Prevalence of both AGAs and PGAs were strongly host density-dependent. PGAs additionally showed strong positive associations with human population size. Although this association has been widely posited, this is one of the first broad-scale studies unambiguously linking a coral disease with human population size. These results emphasize that individual coral diseases can show relatively distinct patterns of association with environmental predictors, even in similar diseases (growth anomalies found on different host genera (Acropora vs. Porites. As human densities and environmental degradation increase globally, the prevalence of coral diseases like PGAs could increase accordingly, halted only perhaps by declines in host density below thresholds required for disease establishment.

  19. Growth anomalies on the coral genera Acropora and Porites are strongly associated with host density and human population size across the Indo-Pacific

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aeby, Greta S.; Williams, Gareth J.; Franklin, Erik C.; Haapkyla, Jessica; Harvell, C. Drew; Neale, Stephen; Page, Cathie A.; Raymundo, Laurie; Vargas-Angel, Bernardo; Willis, Bette L.; Work, Thierry M.; Davy, Simon K.

    2011-01-01

    Growth anomalies (GAs) are common, tumor-like diseases that can cause significant morbidity and decreased fecundity in the major Indo-Pacific reef-building coral genera, Acropora and Porites. GAs are unusually tractable for testing hypotheses about drivers of coral disease because of their pan-Pacific distributions, relatively high occurrence, and unambiguous ease of identification. We modeled multiple disease-environment associations that may underlie the prevalence of Acropora growth anomalies (AGA) (n = 304 surveys) and Porites growth anomalies (PGA) (n = 602 surveys) from across the Indo-Pacific. Nine predictor variables were modeled, including coral host abundance, human population size, and sea surface temperature and ultra-violet radiation anomalies. Prevalence of both AGAs and PGAs were strongly host density-dependent. PGAs additionally showed strong positive associations with human population size. Although this association has been widely posited, this is one of the first broad-scale studies unambiguously linking a coral disease with human population size. These results emphasize that individual coral diseases can show relatively distinct patterns of association with environmental predictors, even in similar diseases (growth anomalies) found on different host genera (Acropora vs. Porites). As human densities and environmental degradation increase globally, the prevalence of coral diseases like PGAs could increase accordingly, halted only perhaps by declines in host density below thresholds required for disease establishment.

  20. The Sloan Lens ACS Survey. XIII. Discovery of 40 New Galaxy-scale Strong Lenses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shu, Yiping; Brownstein, Joel R.; Bolton, Adam S.; Koopmans, Léon V. E.; Treu, Tommaso; Montero-Dorta, Antonio D.; Auger, Matthew W.; Czoske, Oliver; Gavazzi, Raphaël; Marshall, Philip J.; Moustakas, Leonidas A.

    2017-12-01

    We present the full sample of 118 galaxy-scale strong-lens candidates in the Sloan Lens ACS (SLACS) Survey for the Masses (S4TM) Survey, which are spectroscopically selected from the final data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Follow-up Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging observations confirm that 40 candidates are definite strong lenses with multiple lensed images. The foreground-lens galaxies are found to be early-type galaxies (ETGs) at redshifts 0.06–0.44, and background sources are emission-line galaxies at redshifts 0.22–1.29. As an extension of the SLACS Survey, the S4TM Survey is the first attempt to preferentially search for strong-lens systems with relatively lower lens masses than those in the pre-existing strong-lens samples. By fitting HST data with a singular isothermal ellipsoid model, we find that the total projected mass within the Einstein radius of the S4TM strong-lens sample ranges from 3 × 1010 M ⊙ to 2 × 1011 M ⊙. In Shu et al., we have derived the total stellar mass of the S4TM lenses to be 5 × 1010 M ⊙ to 1 × 1012 M ⊙. Both the total enclosed mass and stellar mass of the S4TM lenses are on average almost a factor of 2 smaller than those of the SLACS lenses, which also represent the typical mass scales of the current strong-lens samples. The extended mass coverage provided by the S4TM sample can enable a direct test, with the aid of strong lensing, for transitions in scaling relations, kinematic properties, mass structure, and dark-matter content trends of ETGs at intermediate-mass scales as noted in previous studies. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST), obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with HST program #12210.

  1. Fine Tuning of Basic Forces through the Existence of Carbon-Based Life

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2001-01-01

    The bulk of the carbon in our universe is produced in the triple-alpha process in helium-burning red giant stars. We calculated the change of the triple-alpha reaction rate in a microscopic twelve-nucleon model of the 12C nucleus and looked for the effects of minimal variations of the strengths of the underlying strong and Coulomb interactions. Stellar model calculations are performed using the alternative reaction rates. We show that outside a narrow window of 0.5% of the strength or range of the strong interaction the stellar production of carbon or oxygen is reduced by factors of 130 to 1000. Therefore, outside this window the existence of carbon-based life in our universe would be strongly disfavored. These anthropically allowed strengths of the strong and electromagnetic forces also constrain the sum of the light quark masses and the Higgs vacuum expectation value.

  2. Octodon Degus: A Strong Attractor for Alzheimer Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafael Castro-Fuentes

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available   The most popular animal models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD are transgenic mice expressing human genes with known mutations which do not represent the most abundant sporadic form of the disease. An increasing number of genetic, vascular and psychosocial data strongly support that the Octodon degus, a moderate-sized and diurnal precocial rodent, provides a naturalistic model for the study of the early neurodegenerative process associated with sporadic AD. In this minireview we describe and analyze the risk factors that contribute to Alzheimer-like characteristics in the degus, following recent publications, and establish some guidelines for future studies in this model of natural aging associated with the disease. Given the heterogeneity of current data derived from the diverse transgenic animal models of AD, now may be the time for the degus to become a strong attractor for academic research labs and companies involved with AD. This may help to understand the mechanisms responsible for the early neurodegenerative process associated with this devastating disease.

  3. Octodon Degus: A Strong Attractor for Alzheimer Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafael Castro-Fuentes

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The most popular animal models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD are transgenic mice expressing human genes with known mutations which do not represent the most abundant sporadic form of the disease. An increasing number of genetic, vascular and psychosocial data strongly support that the Octodon degus, a moderate-sized and diurnal precocial rodent, provides a naturalistic model for the study of the early neurodegenerative process associated with sporadic AD. In this minireview we describe and analyze the risk factors that contribute to Alzheimer-like characteristics in the degus, following recent publications, and establish some guidelines for future studies in this model of natural aging associated with the disease. Given the heterogeneity of current data derived from the diverse transgenic animal models of AD, now may be the time for the degus to become a strong attractor for academic research labs and companies involved with AD. This may help to understand the mechanisms responsible for the early neurodegenerative process associated with this devastating disease.

  4. Spatiotemporal Variance of Global Horizontal Moisture Transport and the Influence of Strong ENSO Events Using ERA-Interim Reanalysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kutta, E. J.; Hubbart, J. A.; Svoma, B. M.; Eichler, T. P.; Lupo, A. R.

    2016-12-01

    El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is well documented as a leading source of seasonal to inter-annual variations in global weather and climate. Strong ENSO events have been shown to alter the location and magnitude of Hadley and Walker circulations that maintain equilibrium at tropical latitudes and regulate moisture transport into mid-latitude storm tracks. Broad impacts associated with ENSO events include anomalous regional precipitation (ARP) and temperature patterns and subsequent impacts to socioeconomic and human health systems. Potential socioeconomic and human health impacts range from regional changes in water resources and agricultural productivity to local storm water management, particularly in rapidly urbanizing watersheds. Evidence is mounting to suggest that anthropogenic climate change will increase the frequency of heavy precipitation events, which compounds impacts of ARP patterns associated with strong El Nino events. Therefore, the need exists to identify common regional patterns of spatiotemporal variance of horizontal moisture flux (HMF) during months (Oct-Feb) associated with the peak intensity (Oceanic Nino Index [ONI]) of the three strongest El Nino (ONI > µ + 2σ) and La Nina (ONI hourly resolution before taking the density weighted vertical average. Long term means (LTM; 1979-2015) were quantified and the influence of strong ENSO events was assessed by quantifying deviations from the LTM for each respective covariance property during months associated with the selected ENSO events. Results reveal regions of statistically significant (CI = 0.05) differences from the LTM for the vertically integrated HMF and each covariance quantity. Broader implications of this work include potential for improved seasonal precipitation forecasts at regional scales and subsequent improvements to local water resource management. There is potential for future work objectively comparing these results with output from Earth System Models to improve

  5. Variation in Genes Related to Cochlear Biology Is Strongly Associated with Adult-Onset Deafness in Border Collies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruhe, Alison L.; Erdman, Carolyn A.; Robertson, Kathryn R.; Webb, Aubrey A.; Williams, D. Colette; Chang, Melanie L.; Hytönen, Marjo K.; Lohi, Hannes; Hamilton, Steven P.; Neff, Mark W.

    2012-01-01

    Domestic dogs can suffer from hearing losses that can have profound impacts on working ability and quality of life. We have identified a type of adult-onset hearing loss in Border Collies that appears to have a genetic cause, with an earlier age of onset (3–5 years) than typically expected for aging dogs (8–10 years). Studying this complex trait within pure breeds of dog may greatly increase our ability to identify genomic regions associated with risk of hearing impairment in dogs and in humans. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to detect loci underlying adult-onset deafness in a sample of 20 affected and 28 control Border Collies. We identified a region on canine chromosome 6 that demonstrates extended support for association surrounding SNP Chr6.25819273 (p-value = 1.09×10−13). To further localize disease-associated variants, targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) of one affected and two unaffected dogs was performed. Through additional validation based on targeted genotyping of additional cases (n = 23 total) and controls (n = 101 total) and an independent replication cohort of 16 cases and 265 controls, we identified variants in USP31 that were strongly associated with adult-onset deafness in Border Collies, suggesting the involvement of the NF-κB pathway. We found additional support for involvement of RBBP6, which is critical for cochlear development. These findings highlight the utility of GWAS–guided fine-mapping of genetic loci using targeted NGS to study hereditary disorders of the domestic dog that may be analogous to human disorders. PMID:23028339

  6. Strongly interacting W's and Z's

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gaillard, M.K.

    1984-01-01

    The study focussed primarily on the dynamics of a strongly interacting W, Z(SIW) sector, with the aim of sharpening predictions for total W, Z yield and W, Z multiplicities expected from WW fusion for various scenarios. Specific issues raised in the context of the general problem of modeling SIW included the specificity of the technicolor (or, equivalently, QCD) model, whether or not a composite scalar model can be evaded, and whether the standard model necessarily implies an I = J = O state (≅ Higgs particle) that is relatively ''light'' (M ≤ hundreds of TeV). The consensus on the last issue was that existing arguments are inconclusive. While the author shall briefly address compositeness and alternatives to the technicolor model, quantitative estimates will be of necessity based on technicolor or an extrapolation of pion data

  7. Psychobehavioural Factors Are More Strongly Associated with Successful Weight Management Than Predetermined Satiety Effect or Other Characteristics of Diet

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karhunen, Leila; Lyly, Marika; Lapveteläinen, Anja

    2012-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate factors associated with weight management, especially whether satiety value of food as a part of a weight-maintenance diet would affect self-regulation of food intake and weight management. Altogether 82 obese subjects completed the study consisting of weight....... However, when regarding all study subjects, success in WM was most strongly associated with a greater increase in the flexible control of eating and experience of greater easiness of WM and control of food intake and a greater decrease in uncontrollable eating and psychological distress. Psychobehavioural......-loss and weight-maintenance (WM) periods. During theWM, subjects were randomized into higher- and lower-satiety food groups. No differences were observed in the changes in body weight, energy intake, or eating behaviour between the groups, even despite the different macronutrient compositions of the diets...

  8. Tolerance exists towards resident intestinal flora but is broken in active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duchmann, R; Kaiser, I; Hermann, E; Mayet, W; Ewe, K; Meyer zum Büschenfelde, K H

    1995-12-01

    Hyporesponsiveness to a universe of bacterial and dietary antigens from the gut lumen is a hallmark of the intestinal immune system. Since hyperresponsiveness against these antigens might be associated with inflammation, we studied the immune response to the indigenous intestinal microflora in peripheral blood, inflamed and non-inflamed human intestine. Lamina propria monocuclear cells (LPMC) isolated from inflamed intestine but not peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of IBD patients with active inflammatory disease strongly proliferated after co-culture with sonicates of bacteria from autologous intestine (BsA). Proliferation was inhibitable by anti-MHC class II MoAb, suggesting that it was driven by antigen. LPMC from adjacent non-inflamed intestinal areas of the same IBD patients and PBMC or LPMC isolated from non-inflamed intestine of controls and patients with IBD in remission, in contrast, did not proliferate. PBMC or LPMC which had been tolerant to bacteria from autologous intestine, however, strongly proliferated after co-culture with bacterial sonicates from heterologous intestine (BsH). This proliferation was associated with an expansion of CD8+ T cells, increased expression of activation markers on both CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocyte subsets, and production of IL-12, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), and IL-10 protein. These results show that tolerance selectively exists to intestinal flora from autologous but not heterologous intestine, and that tolerance is broken in intestinal inflammation. This may be an important mechanism for the perpetuation of chronic IBD.

  9. Chymotrypsinogen C Genetic Variants, Including c.180TT, Are Strongly Associated With Chronic Pancreatitis in Pediatric Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grabarczyk, Alicja Monika; Oracz, Grzegorz; Wertheim-Tysarowska, Katarzyna; Kujko, Aleksandra Anna; Wejnarska, Karolina; Kolodziejczyk, Elwira; Bal, Jerzy; Koziel, Dorota; Kowalik, Artur; Gluszek, Stanislaw; Rygiel, Agnieszka Magdalena

    2017-12-01

    Genetic studies in adults/adolescent patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP) identified chymotrypsinogen C (CTRC) genetic variants but their association with CP risk has been difficult to replicate. To evaluate the risk of CP associated with CTRC variants in CP pediatric patients-control study. The distribution of CTRC variants in CP pediatric cohort (n = 136, median age at CP onset 8 years) with no history of alcohol/smoking abuse was compared with controls (n = 401, median age 45). We showed that p.Arg254Trp (4.6%) and p.Lys247_Arg254del (5.3%) heterozygous mutations are frequent and significantly associated with CP risk in pediatric patients (odds ratio [OR] = 19.1; 95% CI 2.8-160; P = 0.001 and OR = 5.5; 95% CI 1.6-19.4; P = 0.001, respectively). For the first time, we demonstrated that the c.180TT genotype of common p.Gly60Gly variant is strong, an independent CP risk factor (OR = 23; 95% CI 7.7-70; P A variant, both CA and AA genotype, is significantly underrepresented in CP compared with controls (15% vs 35%; OR = 0.33; 95% CI 0.19-0.59; P risk factors. The c.493+51C>A variant may play a protective role against CP development.

  10. A genome-wide association study identifies rs2000999 as a strong genetic determinant of circulating haptoglobin levels.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philippe Froguel

    Full Text Available Haptoglobin is an acute phase inflammatory marker. Its main function is to bind hemoglobin released from erythrocytes to aid its elimination, and thereby haptoglobin prevents the generation of reactive oxygen species in the blood. Haptoglobin levels have been repeatedly associated with a variety of inflammation-linked infectious and non-infectious diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C, diabetes, carotid atherosclerosis, and acute myocardial infarction. However, a comprehensive genetic assessment of the inter-individual variability of circulating haptoglobin levels has not been conducted so far.We used a genome-wide association study initially conducted in 631 French children followed by a replication in three additional European sample sets and we identified a common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP, rs2000999 located in the Haptoglobin gene (HP as a strong genetic predictor of circulating Haptoglobin levels (P(overall = 8.1 × 10(-59, explaining 45.4% of its genetic variability (11.8% of Hp global variance. The functional relevance of rs2000999 was further demonstrated by its specific association with HP mRNA levels (β = 0.23 ± 0.08, P = 0.007. Finally, SNP rs2000999 was associated with decreased total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in 8,789 European children (P(total cholesterol = 0.002 and P(LDL = 0.0008.Given the central position of haptoglobin in many inflammation-related metabolic pathways, the relevance of rs2000999 genotyping when evaluating haptoglobin concentration should be further investigated in order to improve its diagnostic/therapeutic and/or prevention impact.

  11. An intronic LINE-1 insertion in MERTK is strongly associated with retinopathy in Swedish Vallhund dogs.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard Everson

    Full Text Available The domestic dog segregates a significant number of inherited progressive retinal diseases, several of which mirror human retinal diseases and which are collectively termed progressive retinal atrophy (PRA. In 2014, a novel form of PRA was reported in the Swedish Vallhund breed, and the disease was mapped to canine chromosome 17. The causal mutation was not identified, but expression analyses of the retinas of affected Vallhunds demonstrated a 6-fold increased expression of the MERTK gene compared to unaffected dogs. Using 24 retinopathy cases and 97 controls with no clinical signs of retinopathy, we replicated the chromosome 17 association in Swedish Vallhunds from the UK and aimed to elucidate the causal variant underlying this association using whole genome sequencing (WGS of an affected dog. This revealed a 6-8 kb insertion in intron 1 of MERTK that was not present in WGS of 49 dogs of other breeds. Sequencing and BLASTN analysis of the inserted segment was consistent with the insertion comprising a full-length intact LINE-1 retroelement. Testing of the LINE-1 insertion for association with retinopathy in the UK set of 24 cases and 97 controls revealed a strong statistical association (P-value 6.0 x 10-11 that was subsequently replicated in the original Finnish study set (49 cases and 89 controls (P-value 4.3 x 10-19. In a pooled analysis of both studies (73 cases and 186 controls, the LINE-1 insertion was associated with a ~20-fold increased risk of retinopathy (odds ratio 23.41, 95% confidence intervals 10.99-49.86, P-value 1.3 x 10-27. Our study adds further support for regulatory disruption of MERTK in Swedish Vallhund retinopathy; however, further work is required to establish a functional overexpression model. Future work to characterise the mechanism by which this intronic mutation disrupts gene regulation will further improve the understanding of MERTK biology and its role in retinal function.

  12. Hyperthyroid and Hypothyroid Status Was Strongly Associated with Gout and Weakly Associated with Hyperuricaemia

    Science.gov (United States)

    See, Lai-Chu; Kuo, Chang-Fu; Yu, Kuang-Hui; Luo, Shue-Fen; Chou, I-Jun; Ko, Yu-Shien; Chiou, Meng-Jiun; Liu, Jia-Rou

    2014-01-01

    Objectives The aim of this study was to estimate the risk of hyperuricaemia and gout in people with hypothyroid or hyperthyroid status. Methods This study analyzed data from individuals who participated in health screening programs at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in northern Taiwan (2000–2010). Participants were categorized as having euthyroid, hypothyroid, or hyperthyroid status according to their thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to calculate the odds ratios (95% CI) for hyperuricaemia and gout in participants with thyroid dysfunction compared to euthyroid participants. Results A total of 87,813 (euthyroid, 83,502; hypothyroid, 1,460; hyperthyroid, 2,851) participants were included. The prevalence of hyperuricaemia was higher in hyperthyroid subjects (19.4%) than in euthyroid subjects (17.8%) but not in hypothyroid subjects (19.3%). The prevalence of gout was significantly higher in both hypothyroid (6.0%) and hyperthyroid (5.3%) subjects than in euthyroid subjects (4.3%). In men, hypothyroid or hyperthyroid status was not associated with hyperuricaemia. However, hypothyroid or hyperthyroid status was associated with ORs (95% CI) of 1.47 (1.10–1.97) and 1.37 (1.10–1.69), respectively, for gout. In women, hypothyroid status was not associated with hyperuricaemia or gout. However, hyperthyroid status was associated with ORs (95% CI) of 1.42 (1.24–1.62) for hyperuricaemia and 2.13 (1.58–2.87) for gout. Conclusions Both hyperthyroid and hypothyroid status were significantly associated with gout and weakly associated with hyperuricaemia. A thyroid function test for gout patients may by warranted. PMID:25486420

  13. Observation of squeezed states with strong photon-number oscillations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mehmet, Moritz; Vahlbruch, Henning; Lastzka, Nico; Danzmann, Karsten; Schnabel, Roman

    2010-01-01

    Squeezed states of light constitute an important nonclassical resource in the field of high-precision measurements, for example, gravitational wave detection, as well as in the field of quantum information, for example, for teleportation, quantum cryptography, and distribution of entanglement in quantum computation networks. Strong squeezing in combination with high purity, high bandwidth, and high spatial mode quality is desirable in order to achieve significantly improved performances contrasting any classical protocols. Here we report on the observation of 11.5 dB of squeezing, together with relatively high state purity corresponding to a vacuum contribution of less than 5%, and a squeezing bandwidth of about 170 MHz. The analysis of our squeezed states reveals a significant production of higher-order pairs of quantum-correlated photons and the existence of strong photon-number oscillations.

  14. Association of IgA multiple myeloma with pre-existing disease

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schafer, A.I.; Miller, J.B.

    1979-01-01

    A retrospective analysis of 153 patients with multiple myeloma was performed for evaluation of the possible significance of pre-existing disease. 37% of the group had no significant antecedent disorder. The most common prior illnesses were peptic ulcer disease and gallbladder disease. Of 12 patients in the group who had prior biliary tract disease and for whom immunoelectrophoretic studies were available, eight (66.7%) had IgA paraproteins. This figure is statistically higher than the 14.1% of prevalence of IgA paraproteins in those myeloma patients without biliary disease. We conclude that prior inflammatory gastrointestinal, pulmonary, and, particularly, biliary disease may be implicated in the pathogenesis of the IgA subset of multiple myeloma.

  15. A disease management programme for patients with diabetes mellitus is associated with improved quality of care within existing budgets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steuten, L M G; Vrijhoef, H J M; Landewé-Cleuren, S; Schaper, N; Van Merode, G G; Spreeuwenberg, C

    2007-10-01

    To assess the impact of a disease management programme for patients with diabetes mellitus (Type 1 and Type 2) on cost-effectiveness, quality of life and patient self-management. By organizing care in accordance with the principles of disease management, it is aimed to increase quality of care within existing budgets. Single-group, pre-post design with 2-year follow-up in 473 patients. Substantial significant improvements in glycaemic control, health-related quality of life (HRQL) and patient self-management were found. No significant changes were detected in total costs of care. The probability that the disease management programme is cost-effective compared with usual care amounts to 74%, expressed in an average saving of 117 per additional life year at 5% improved HRQL. Introduction of a disease management programme for patients with diabetes is associated with improved intermediate outcomes within existing budgets. Further research should focus on long-term cost-effectiveness, including diabetic complications and mortality, in a controlled setting or by using decision-analytic modelling techniques.

  16. Strong association of epidermal growth factor receptor status with breast cancer FDG uptake

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Joohee; Moon, Seung Hwan; Hyun, Seung Hyup; Cho, Young Seok; Choi, Joon Young; Kim, Byung-Tae; Lee, Kyung-Han [Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Eun Jeong [Seoul Medical Center, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Seokhwi [Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-08-15

    Imaging tumor FDG uptake could complement breast cancer biomarkers of risk and treatment response. Although breast cancer FDG uptake is reputedly influenced by major biomarker states, the role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression remains largely unexplored. This is a retrospective study that included 499 patients with primary breast cancer at initial presentation. Tumor FDG uptake was measured on pretreatment PET/CT as maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), and biomarkers were assessed by immunohistochemistry of tumor tissue. Regression analysis was performed for predictors of high tumor FDG uptake (SUVmax ≥ 8.6). SUVmax was higher in ER- (36.5%; 11.2 ± 6.0 vs. 8.3 ± 5.3), PR- (42.3%; 10.9 ± 6.0 vs. 8.2 ± 5.2), and triple-negative tumors (19.8%; 12.0 ± 6.9 vs. 8.7 ± 5.2; all p < 0.0001). EGFR expression (28.5%) was more frequent in ER-, PR-, triple-negative, cytokeratin 5/6 (CK5/6) + and mutant P53 (mP53) + tumors (all p < 0.0001). EGFR+ was associated with higher SUVmax among all tumors (11.9 ± 6.0 vs. 8.3 ± 5.3), ER- tumors (p < 0.0001), PR- and + tumors (p < 0.0001 and 0.027), hormone receptor- and + tumors (p < 0.0001 and 0.004), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)- and + tumors (p < 0.0001 and 0.006), non-triple negative tumors (p < 0.0001), CK5/6- and + tumors (p = 0.021 and <0.0001), and mP53- and + tumors (p < 0.0001 and 0.008). Tumors had high FDG uptake in 73.2% of EGFR+ and 40.6% of EGFR- tumors. On regression analysis, significant multivariate predictors of high tumor FDG uptake were large size, EGFR+ and CK5/6+ for the entire subjects, and EGFR+ and CK5/6+ for ER- and hormone receptor negative subgroups. High FDG uptake was able to sub-stratify EGFR+ tumors that were more likely to be ER- and CK5/6+, and EGFR- tumors more likely to be mP53 +. Primary breast tumor FDG uptake is strongly influenced by EGFR status beyond that by other major biomarkers including hormone receptor and HER2 status, and EGFR

  17. Spatiotemporal seismic velocity change in the Earth's subsurface associated with large earthquake: contribution of strong ground motion and crustal deformation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawazaki, K.

    2016-12-01

    It is well known that seismic velocity of the subsurface medium changes after a large earthquake. The cause of the velocity change is roughly attributed to strong ground motion (dynamic strain change), crustal deformation (static strain change), and fracturing around the fault zone. Several studies have revealed that the velocity reduction down to several percent concentrates at the depths shallower than several hundred meters. The amount of velocity reduction correlates well with the intensity of strong ground motion, which indicates that the strong motion is the primary cause of the velocity reduction. Although some studies have proposed contributions of coseismic static strain change and fracturing around fault zone to the velocity change, separation of their contributions from the site-related velocity change is usually difficult. Velocity recovery after a large earthquake is also widely observed. The recovery process is generally proportional to logarithm of the lapse time, which is similar to the behavior of "slow dynamics" recognized in laboratory experiments. The time scale of the recovery is usually months to years in field observations, while it is several hours in laboratory experiments. Although the factor that controls the recovery speed is not well understood, cumulative strain change due to post-seismic deformation, migration of underground water, mechanical and chemical reactions on the crack surface could be the candidate. In this study, I summarize several observations that revealed spatiotemporal distribution of seismic velocity change due to large earthquakes; especially I focus on the case of the M9.0 2011 Tohoku earthquake. Combining seismograms of Hi-net (high-sensitivity) and KiK-net (strong motion), geodetic records of GEONET and the seafloor GPS/Acoustic ranging, I investigate contribution of the strong ground motion and crustal deformation to the velocity change associated with the Tohoku earthquake, and propose a gross view of

  18. Global existence and exponential growth for a viscoelastic wave equation with dynamic boundary conditions

    KAUST Repository

    Gerbi, Sté phane; Said-Houari, Belkacem

    2013-01-01

    The goal of this work is to study a model of the wave equation with dynamic boundary conditions and a viscoelastic term. First, applying the Faedo-Galerkin method combined with the fixed point theorem, we show the existence and uniqueness of a local in time solution. Second, we show that under some restrictions on the initial data, the solution continues to exist globally in time. On the other hand, if the interior source dominates the boundary damping, then the solution is unbounded and grows as an exponential function. In addition, in the absence of the strong damping, then the solution ceases to exist and blows up in finite time.

  19. Global existence and exponential growth for a viscoelastic wave equation with dynamic boundary conditions

    KAUST Repository

    Gerbi, Stéphane

    2013-01-15

    The goal of this work is to study a model of the wave equation with dynamic boundary conditions and a viscoelastic term. First, applying the Faedo-Galerkin method combined with the fixed point theorem, we show the existence and uniqueness of a local in time solution. Second, we show that under some restrictions on the initial data, the solution continues to exist globally in time. On the other hand, if the interior source dominates the boundary damping, then the solution is unbounded and grows as an exponential function. In addition, in the absence of the strong damping, then the solution ceases to exist and blows up in finite time.

  20. Strong Teens: A School-Based Small Group Experience for African American Males

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Nathan J.; Rayle, Andrea Dixon

    2007-01-01

    This article describes the school-based, small group adaptation of the existing Strong Teens Curriculum (STC) for African American male adolescents in high schools. The STC was created to equip adolescents with skills that promote more effective social interaction and enhance personal emotional and psychological wellness. The authors present a…

  1. Strong social relationships are associated with decreased longevity in a facultatively social mammal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blumstein, Daniel T; Williams, Dana M; Lim, Alexandra N; Kroeger, Svenja; Martin, Julien G A

    2018-01-31

    Humans in strong social relationships are more likely to live longer because social relationships may buffer stressors and thus have protective effects. However, a shortcoming of human studies is that they often rely on self-reporting of these relationships. By contrast, observational studies of non-human animals permit detailed analyses of the specific nature of social relationships. Thus, discoveries that some social animals live longer and healthier lives if they are involved in social grooming, forage together or have more affiliative associates emphasizes the potential importance of social relationships on health and longevity. Previous studies have focused on the impact of social metrics on longevity in obligately social species. However, if sociality indeed has a key role in longevity, we might expect that affiliative relationships should also influence longevity in less social species. We focused on socially flexible yellow-bellied marmots ( Marmota flaviventer ) and asked whether female longevity covaries with the specific nature of social relationships. We quantified social relationships with social network statistics that were based on affiliative interactions, and then estimated the correlation between longevity and sociality using bivariate models. We found a significant negative phenotypic correlation between affiliative social relationship strength and longevity; marmots with greater degree, closeness and those with a greater negative average shortest path length died at younger ages. We conclude that sociality plays an important role in longevity, but how it does so may depend on whether a species is obligately or facultatively social. © 2018 The Author(s).

  2. The Structure of Artefacts of Management Control in the Innovation Process: Does Exist Association with the Strategic Profile?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fábio Frezatti

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This study investigates what is the role of strateg ic profiles and management control instruments in organisations’ innovation process. B ased in a survey using structural equation modelling (121 companies, we confirm that analyser , defender e prospector profiles are associated with strategic planning, balanced scorec ard (BSC and rolling forecast. The reactor type is associated with lower use of artefacts. Our results confirm the linkage between incremental innovation and strategic planning and b etween radical innovation and BSC. These findings reflect the alignment between strate gic types, the availability of instruments and intensity of innovation, which is useful inform ation with which to understand organisations and their market activities. This pap er bring information about specific management control instruments existence and the im pact for the intensity of the innovation that is relevant for management and must stimulate organizations to be consistent in the cases that the strategic profile is a clear long term def inition or see the possibility of change when it is not the desired one.

  3. A high and low noise model for strong motion accelerometers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clinton, J. F.; Cauzzi, C.; Olivieri, M.

    2010-12-01

    We present reference noise models for high-quality strong motion accelerometer installations. We use continuous accelerometer data acquired by the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) since 2006 and other international high-quality accelerometer network data to derive very broadband (50Hz-100s) high and low noise models. The proposed noise models are compared to the Peterson (1993) low and high noise models designed for broadband seismometers; the datalogger self-noise; background noise levels at existing Swiss strong motion stations; and typical earthquake signals recorded in Switzerland and worldwide. The standard strong motion station operated by the SED consists of a Kinemetrics Episensor (2g clip level; flat acceleration response from 200 Hz to DC; insulated sensor / datalogger systems placed in vault quality sites. At all frequencies, there is at least one order of magnitude between the ALNM and the AHNM; at high frequencies (> 1Hz) this extends to 2 orders of magnitude. This study provides remarkable confirmation of the capability of modern strong motion accelerometers to record low-amplitude ground motions with seismic observation quality. In particular, an accelerometric station operating at the ALNM is capable of recording the full spectrum of near source earthquakes, out to 100 km, down to M2. Of particular interest for the SED, this study provides acceptable noise limits for candidate sites for the on-going Strong Motion Network modernisation.

  4. Strange effects of strong high-frequency excitation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thomsen, Jon Juel

    2003-01-01

    Three general effects of mechanical high-frequency excitation (HFE) are described: Stiffening - an apparent change in the stiffness associated with an equilibrium; Biasing - a tendency for a system to move towards a particular state which does not exist or is unstable without HFE; and Smoothening...

  5. On the existence of global strong solutions to the equations modeling a motion of a rigid body around a viscous fluid

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Nečasová, Šárka; Wolf, J.

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 36, č. 3 (2016), s. 1539-1562 ISSN 1078-0947 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-00522S Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : incompressible fluid * motion of rigid body * strong solutions Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 1.099, year: 2016 http://www.aimsciences.org/journals/displayArticlesnew.jsp?paperID=11589

  6. Metastability and coherence of repulsive polarons in a strongly interacting Fermi mixture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kohstall, Cristoph; Zaccanti, Mattheo; Jag, Matthias

    2012-01-01

    show that a well-defined quasiparticle exists for strongly repulsive interactions. We measure the energy and the lifetime of this ‘repulsive polaron’9, 12, 13, and probe its coherence properties by measuring the quasiparticle residue. The results are well described by a theoretical approach that takes...... into account the finite effective range of the interaction in our system. We find that when the effective range is of the order of the interparticle spacing, there is a substantial increase in the lifetime of the quasiparticles. The existence of such a long-lived, metastable many-body state offers intriguing...

  7. Existence and uniqueness of solution for a system of equations of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The existence and uniqueness of solution for a system of equations of microwave heating of biologic issue is discussed. Using the Green function approach we establish the existence and uniqueness of solution. Journal of the Nigerian Association of Mathematical Physics Vol. 8 2004: pp. 177-180 ...

  8. Osteochondral lesions in distal tarsal joints of Icelandic horses reveal strong associations between hyaline and calcified cartilage abnormalities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ley, C J; Ekman, S; Hansson, K; Björnsdóttir, S; Boyde, A

    2014-03-25

    Osteochondral lesions in the joints of the distal tarsal region of young Icelandic horses provide a natural model for the early stages of osteoarthritis (OA) in low-motion joints. We describe and characterise mineralised and non-mineralised osteochondral lesions in left distal tarsal region joint specimens from twenty-two 30 ±1 month-old Icelandic horses. Combinations of confocal scanning light microscopy, backscattered electron scanning electron microscopy (including, importantly, iodine staining) and three-dimensional microcomputed tomography were used on specimens obtained with guidance from clinical imaging. Lesion-types were described and classified into groups according to morphological features. Their locations in the hyaline articular cartilage (HAC), articular calcified cartilage (ACC), subchondral bone (SCB) and the joint margin tissues were identified and their frequency in the joints recorded. Associations and correlations between lesion-types were investigated for centrodistal joints only. In centrodistal joints the lesion-types HAC chondrocyte loss, HAC fibrillation, HAC central chondrocyte clusters, ACC arrest and ACC advance had significant associations and strong correlations. These lesion-types had moderate to high frequency in centrodistal joints but low frequencies in tarsometatarsal and talocalcaneal-centroquartal joints. Joint margin lesion-types had no significant associations with other lesion-types in the centrodistal joints but high frequency in both the centrodistal and tarsometatarsal joints. The frequency of SCB lesion-types in all joints was low. Hypermineralised infill phase lesion-types were detected. Our results emphasise close associations between HAC and ACC lesions in equine centrodistal joints and the importance of ACC lesions in the development of OA in low-motion compression-loaded equine joints.

  9. Optimal explicit strong stability preserving Runge–Kutta methods with high linear order and optimal nonlinear order

    KAUST Repository

    Gottlieb, Sigal

    2015-04-10

    High order spatial discretizations with monotonicity properties are often desirable for the solution of hyperbolic PDEs. These methods can advantageously be coupled with high order strong stability preserving time discretizations. The search for high order strong stability time-stepping methods with large allowable strong stability coefficient has been an active area of research over the last two decades. This research has shown that explicit SSP Runge-Kutta methods exist only up to fourth order. However, if we restrict ourselves to solving only linear autonomous problems, the order conditions simplify and this order barrier is lifted: explicit SSP Runge-Kutta methods of any linear order exist. These methods reduce to second order when applied to nonlinear problems. In the current work we aim to find explicit SSP Runge-Kutta methods with large allowable time-step, that feature high linear order and simultaneously have the optimal fourth order nonlinear order. These methods have strong stability coefficients that approach those of the linear methods as the number of stages and the linear order is increased. This work shows that when a high linear order method is desired, it may still be worthwhile to use methods with higher nonlinear order.

  10. Meta-analysis of associations between human brain volume and intelligence differences: How strong are they and what do they mean?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pietschnig, Jakob; Penke, Lars; Wicherts, Jelte M; Zeiler, Michael; Voracek, Martin

    2015-10-01

    Positive associations between human intelligence and brain size have been suspected for more than 150 years. Nowadays, modern non-invasive measures of in vivo brain volume (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) make it possible to reliably assess associations with IQ. By means of a systematic review of published studies and unpublished results obtained by personal communications with researchers, we identified 88 studies examining effect sizes of 148 healthy and clinical mixed-sex samples (>8000 individuals). Our results showed significant positive associations of brain volume and IQ (r=.24, R(2)=.06) that generalize over age (children vs. adults), IQ domain (full-scale, performance, and verbal IQ), and sex. Application of a number of methods for detection of publication bias indicates that strong and positive correlation coefficients have been reported frequently in the literature whilst small and non-significant associations appear to have been often omitted from reports. We show that the strength of the positive association of brain volume and IQ has been overestimated in the literature, but remains robust even when accounting for different types of dissemination bias, although reported effects have been declining over time. While it is tempting to interpret this association in the context of human cognitive evolution and species differences in brain size and cognitive ability, we show that it is not warranted to interpret brain size as an isomorphic proxy of human intelligence differences. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Strong Laws of Large Numbers for Arrays of Rowwise NA and LNQD Random Variables

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiangfeng Wang

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Some strong laws of large numbers and strong convergence properties for arrays of rowwise negatively associated and linearly negative quadrant dependent random variables are obtained. The results obtained not only generalize the result of Hu and Taylor to negatively associated and linearly negative quadrant dependent random variables, but also improve it.

  12. Strong selective sweeps associated with ampliconic regions in great ape X chromosomes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nam, Kiwoong; Munch, Kasper; Hobolth, Asger

    2014-01-01

    The unique inheritance pattern of X chromosomes makes them preferential targets of adaptive evolution. We here investigate natural selection on the X chromosome in all species of great apes. We find that diversity is more strongly reduced around genes on the X compared with autosomes...... with ampliconic sequences we propose that intra-genomic conflict between the X and the Y chromosomes is a major driver of X chromosome evolution....

  13. High resolution MRI of the breast at 3 T: which BI-RADS {sup registered} descriptors are most strongly associated with the diagnosis of breast cancer?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pinker-Domenig, K.; Helbich, T.H. [Medical University Vienna, Dept. of Radiology, Division of Molecular and Gender Imaging, Vienna (Austria); Bogner, W.; Gruber, S. [Medical University Vienna, Dept. of Radiology, MR Centre of Excellence, Vienna (Austria); Medical University Vienna, Dept. of Radiology, Vienna (Austria); Bickel, H. [Medical University Vienna, Dept. of Radiology, Division of Molecular and Gender Imaging, Vienna (Austria); Medical University Vienna, Dept. of Radiology, Vienna (Austria); Duffy, S. [Queen Mary University of London, Cancer Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, Mathematics and Statistics, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London (United Kingdom); Schernthaner, M. [Medical University Vienna, Dept. of Radiology, Vienna (Austria); Dubsky, P. [Medical University Vienna, Dept. of Surgery, Vienna (Austria); Pluschnig, U. [Medical University Vienna, Dept. of Internal Medicine, Division of Oncology, Vienna (Austria); Rudas, M. [Medical University Vienna, Clinical Institute of Pathology, Vienna (Austria); Trattnig, S. [Medical University Vienna, Dept. of Radiology, MR Centre of Excellence, Vienna (Austria)

    2012-02-15

    To identify which breast lesion descriptors in the ACR BI-RADS registered MRI lexicon are most strongly associated with the diagnosis of breast cancer when performing breast MR imaging at 3 T. 150 patients underwent breast MR imaging at 3 T. Lesion size, morphology and enhancement kinetics were assessed according to the BI-RADS {sup registered} classification. Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy were assessed. The effects of the BI-RADS {sup registered} descriptors on sensitivity and specificity were evaluated. Data were analysed using logistic regression. Histopathological diagnoses were used as the standard of reference. The sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of breast MRI at 3 T was 99%, 81% and 93%, respectively. In univariate analysis, the final diagnosis of malignancy was positively associated with irregular shape (p < 0.001), irregular margin (p < 0.001), heterogeneous enhancement (p < 0.001), Type 3 enhancement kinetics (p = 0.02), increasing patient age (p = 0.02) and larger lesion size (p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, significant associations with malignancy remained for mass shape (p = 0.06), mass margin (p < 0.001), internal enhancement pattern (p = 0.03) and Type 3 enhancement kinetics (p = 0.06). The ACR BI-RADS {sup registered} breast lesion descriptors that are mostly strongly associated with breast cancer in breast MR imaging at 3 T are lesion shape, lesion margin, internal enhancement pattern and Type 3 enhancement kinetics. (orig.)

  14. Continuum Lowering and Fermi-Surface Rising in Strongly Coupled and Degenerate Plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu, S. X.

    2017-01-01

    Here, continuum lowering is a well-known and important physics concept that describes the ionization potential depression (IPD) in plasmas caused by thermal-/pressure-induced ionization of outer-shell electrons. The existing IPD models are often used to characterize plasma conditions and to gauge opacity calculations. Recent precision measurements have revealed deficits in our understanding of continuum lowering in dense hot plasmas. However, these investigations have so far been limited to IPD in strongly coupled but nondegenerate plasmas. Here, we report a first-principles study of the K-edge shifting in both strongly coupled and fully degenerate carbon plasmas, with quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) calculations based on the all-electron density-functional theory (DFT). The resulted K-edge shifting versus plasma density, as a probe to the continuum lowering and the Fermi-surface rising, is found to be significantly different from predictions of existing IPD models. In contrast, a simple model of “single atom in box” (SAIB), developed in this work, accurately predicts K-edge locations as what ab-initio calculations provide.

  15. Strongly Localized Image States of Spherical Graphitic Particles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Godfrey Gumbs

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available We investigate the localization of charged particles by the image potential of spherical shells, such as fullerene buckyballs. These spherical image states exist within surface potentials formed by the competition between the attractive image potential and the repulsive centripetal force arising from the angular motion. The image potential has a power law rather than a logarithmic behavior. This leads to fundamental differences in the nature of the effective potential for the two geometries. Our calculations have shown that the captured charge is more strongly localized closest to the surface for fullerenes than for cylindrical nanotube.

  16. UCLA, British astronomers discover wake of planet around nearby star. Strong evidence for solar system like ours

    CERN Multimedia

    2002-01-01

    "An international team of astronomers reports the first strong evidence for the existence of massive planets on wide orbits - like those of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - around many stars. The new research provides some of the strongest evidence so far that solar systems similar to our own, or even larger, are likely to exist: (1 page).

  17. Strong association between serological status and probability of progression to clinical visceral leishmaniasis in prospective cohort studies in India and Nepal.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Epco Hasker

    Full Text Available Asymptomatic persons infected with the parasites causing visceral leishmaniasis (VL usually outnumber clinically apparent cases by a ratio of 4-10 to 1. We assessed the risk of progression from infection to disease as a function of DAT and rK39 serological titers.We used available data on four cohorts from villages in India and Nepal that are highly endemic for Leishmania donovani. In each cohort two serosurveys had been conducted. Based on results of initial surveys, subjects were classified as seronegative, moderately seropositive or strongly seropositive using both DAT and rK39. Based on the combination of first and second survey results we identified seroconvertors for both markers. Seroconvertors were subdivided in high and low titer convertors. Subjects were followed up for at least one year following the second survey. Incident VL cases were recorded and verified.We assessed a total of 32,529 enrolled subjects, for a total follow-up time of 72,169 person years. Altogether 235 incident VL cases were documented. The probability of progression to disease was strongly associated with initial serostatus and with seroconversion; this was particularly the case for those with high titers and most prominently among seroconvertors. For high titer DAT convertors the hazard ratio reached as high as 97.4 when compared to non-convertors. The strengths of the associations varied between cohorts and between markers but similar trends were observed between the four cohorts and the two markers.There is a strongly increased risk of progressing to disease among DAT and/or rK39 seropositives with high titers. The options for prophylactic treatment for this group merit further investigation, as it could be of clinical benefit if it prevents progression to disease. Prophylactic treatment might also have a public health benefit if it can be corroborated that these asymptomatically infected individuals are infectious for sand flies.

  18. 12 CFR 563b.435 - What happens to my corporate existence after conversion?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false What happens to my corporate existence after... What happens to my corporate existence after conversion? Your corporate existence will continue following your conversion, unless you convert to a state-chartered stock savings association and state law...

  19. Diabetes mellitus is strongly associated with tuberculosis in Indonesia.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Alisjahbana, B.; Crevel, R. van; Sahiratmadja, E.; Heijer, M. den; Maya, A.; Istriana, E.; Danusantoso, H.; Ottenhoff, T.H.; Nelwan, R.H.; Meer, J.W.M. van der

    2006-01-01

    SETTING: Diabetes mellitus is a known risk factor for tuberculosis (TB), but no studies have been reported from South-East Asia, which has a high burden of TB and a rapidly growing prevalence of diabetes. OBJECTIVE: To examine if and to what extent diabetes is associated with an increased risk of TB

  20. Between strong continuity and almost continuity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J.K. Kohli

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available As embodied in the title of the paper strong and weak variants of continuity that lie strictly between strong continuity of Levine and almost continuity due to Singal and Singal are considered. Basic properties of almost completely continuous functions (≡ R-maps and δ-continuous functions are studied. Direct and inverse transfer of topological properties under almost completely continuous functions and δ-continuous functions are investigated and their place in the hier- archy of variants of continuity that already exist in the literature is out- lined. The class of almost completely continuous functions lies strictly between the class of completely continuous functions studied by Arya and Gupta (Kyungpook Math. J. 14 (1974, 131-143 and δ-continuous functions defined by Noiri (J. Korean Math. Soc. 16, (1980, 161-166. The class of almost completely continuous functions properly contains each of the classes of (1 completely continuous functions, and (2 al- most perfectly continuous (≡ regular set connected functions defined by Dontchev, Ganster and Reilly (Indian J. Math. 41 (1999, 139-146 and further studied by Singh (Quaestiones Mathematicae 33(2(2010, 1–11 which in turn include all δ-perfectly continuous functions initi- ated by Kohli and Singh (Demonstratio Math. 42(1, (2009, 221-231 and so include all perfectly continuous functions introduced by Noiri (Indian J. Pure Appl. Math. 15(3 (1984, 241-250.

  1. Osteochondral lesions in distal tarsal joints of Icelandic horses reveal strong associations between hyaline and calcified cartilage abnormalities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CJ Ley

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Osteochondral lesions in the joints of the distal tarsal region of young Icelandic horses provide a natural model for the early stages of osteoarthritis (OA in low-motion joints. We describe and characterise mineralised and non-mineralised osteochondral lesions in left distal tarsal region joint specimens from twenty-two 30 ±1 month-old Icelandic horses. Combinations of confocal scanning light microscopy, backscattered electron scanning electron microscopy (including, importantly, iodine staining and three-dimensional microcomputed tomography were used on specimens obtained with guidance from clinical imaging. Lesion-types were described and classified into groups according to morphological features. Their locations in the hyaline articular cartilage (HAC, articular calcified cartilage (ACC, subchondral bone (SCB and the joint margin tissues were identified and their frequency in the joints recorded. Associations and correlations between lesion-types were investigated for centrodistal joints only. In centrodistal joints the lesion-types HAC chondrocyte loss, HAC fibrillation, HAC central chondrocyte clusters, ACC arrest and ACC advance had significant associations and strong correlations. These lesion-types had moderate to high frequency in centrodistal joints but low frequencies in tarsometatarsal and talocalcaneal-centroquartal joints. Joint margin lesion-types had no significant associations with other lesion-types in the centrodistal joints but high frequency in both the centrodistal and tarsometatarsal joints. The frequency of SCB lesion-types in all joints was low. Hypermineralised infill phase lesion-types were detected. Our results emphasise close associations between HAC and ACC lesions in equine centrodistal joints and the importance of ACC lesions in the development of OA in low-motion compression-loaded equine joints.

  2. Diagnosing a Strong-Fault Model by Conflict and Consistency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenfeng Zhang

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The diagnosis method for a weak-fault model with only normal behaviors of each component has evolved over decades. However, many systems now demand a strong-fault models, the fault modes of which have specific behaviors as well. It is difficult to diagnose a strong-fault model due to its non-monotonicity. Currently, diagnosis methods usually employ conflicts to isolate possible fault and the process can be expedited when some observed output is consistent with the model’s prediction where the consistency indicates probably normal components. This paper solves the problem of efficiently diagnosing a strong-fault model by proposing a novel Logic-based Truth Maintenance System (LTMS with two search approaches based on conflict and consistency. At the beginning, the original a strong-fault model is encoded by Boolean variables and converted into Conjunctive Normal Form (CNF. Then the proposed LTMS is employed to reason over CNF and find multiple minimal conflicts and maximal consistencies when there exists fault. The search approaches offer the best candidate efficiency based on the reasoning result until the diagnosis results are obtained. The completeness, coverage, correctness and complexity of the proposals are analyzed theoretically to show their strength and weakness. Finally, the proposed approaches are demonstrated by applying them to a real-world domain—the heat control unit of a spacecraft—where the proposed methods are significantly better than best first and conflict directly with A* search methods.

  3. Diagnosing a Strong-Fault Model by Conflict and Consistency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Wenfeng; Zhao, Qi; Zhao, Hongbo; Zhou, Gan; Feng, Wenquan

    2018-03-29

    The diagnosis method for a weak-fault model with only normal behaviors of each component has evolved over decades. However, many systems now demand a strong-fault models, the fault modes of which have specific behaviors as well. It is difficult to diagnose a strong-fault model due to its non-monotonicity. Currently, diagnosis methods usually employ conflicts to isolate possible fault and the process can be expedited when some observed output is consistent with the model's prediction where the consistency indicates probably normal components. This paper solves the problem of efficiently diagnosing a strong-fault model by proposing a novel Logic-based Truth Maintenance System (LTMS) with two search approaches based on conflict and consistency. At the beginning, the original a strong-fault model is encoded by Boolean variables and converted into Conjunctive Normal Form (CNF). Then the proposed LTMS is employed to reason over CNF and find multiple minimal conflicts and maximal consistencies when there exists fault. The search approaches offer the best candidate efficiency based on the reasoning result until the diagnosis results are obtained. The completeness, coverage, correctness and complexity of the proposals are analyzed theoretically to show their strength and weakness. Finally, the proposed approaches are demonstrated by applying them to a real-world domain-the heat control unit of a spacecraft-where the proposed methods are significantly better than best first and conflict directly with A* search methods.

  4. Photon and spin dependence of the resonance line shape in the strong coupling regime

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Miyashita, Seiji; Shirai, Tatsuhiko; Mori, Takashi; De Raedt, Hans; Bertaina, Sylvain; Chiorescu, Irinel

    2012-01-01

    We study the quantum dynamics of a spin ensemble coupled to cavity photons. Recently, related experimental results have been reported, showing the existence of the strong coupling regime in such systems. We study the eigenenergy distribution of the multi-spin system (following the Tavis-Cummings

  5. A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF A STRONGLY LENSED PLANCK-ASSOCIATED SUBMILLIMETER GALAXY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fu Hai; Cooray, A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697 (United States); Jullo, E. [Observatoire d' Astrophysique de Marseille-Provence, 38 rue Frederic Joliot-Curie, F-13388 Marseille (France); Bussmann, R. S. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Ivison, R. J. [UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom); Perez-Fournon, I. [Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC), E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Djorgovski, S. G.; Scoville, N.; Yan, L.; Riechers, D. A.; Bradford, M. [Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Aguirre, J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Auld, R. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA (United Kingdom); Baes, M. [Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Universiteit Gent, Krijgslaan 281 S9, B-9000 Gent (Belgium); Baker, A. J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 136 Frelinghuysen Rd., Piscataway, NJ 08854 (United States); Cava, A. [Departamento de Astrofisica, Facultad de CC. Fisicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, E-28040 Madrid (Spain); Clements, D. L. [Astrophysics Group, Imperial College London, Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Dannerbauer, H. [Institut fuer Astronomie, Universitaet Wien, Tuerkenschanzstrasse 17, A-1160 Wien (Austria); Dariush, A. [Physics Department, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); De Zotti, G., E-mail: haif@uci.edu [INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dell' Osservatorio 5, I-35122 Padova (Italy); and others

    2012-07-10

    We present high-resolution maps of stars, dust, and molecular gas in a strongly lensed submillimeter galaxy (SMG) at z = 3.259. HATLAS J114637.9-001132 is selected from the Herschel-Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) as a strong lens candidate mainly based on its unusually high 500 {mu}m flux density ({approx}300 mJy). It is the only high-redshift Planck detection in the 130 deg{sup 2} H-ATLAS Phase-I area. Keck Adaptive Optics images reveal a quadruply imaged galaxy in the K band while the Submillimeter Array and the Jansky Very Large Array show doubly imaged 880 {mu}m and CO(1{yields}0) sources, indicating differentiated distributions of the various components in the galaxy. In the source plane, the stars reside in three major kpc-scale clumps extended over {approx}1.6 kpc, the dust in a compact ({approx}1 kpc) region {approx}3 kpc north of the stars, and the cold molecular gas in an extended ({approx}7 kpc) disk {approx}5 kpc northeast of the stars. The emissions from the stars, dust, and gas are magnified by {approx}17, {approx}8, and {approx}7 times, respectively, by four lensing galaxies at z {approx} 1. Intrinsically, the lensed galaxy is a warm (T{sub dust} {approx} 40-65 K), hyper-luminous (L{sub IR} {approx} 1.7 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 13} L{sub Sun }; star formation rate (SFR) {approx}2000 M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1}), gas-rich (M{sub gas}/M{sub baryon} {approx} 70%), young (M{sub stellar}/SFR {approx} 20 Myr), and short-lived (M{sub gas}/SFR {approx} 40 Myr) starburst. With physical properties similar to unlensed z > 2 SMGs, HATLAS J114637.9-001132 offers a detailed view of a typical SMG through a powerful cosmic microscope.

  6. Wave-Breaking Phenomena and Existence of Peakons for a Generalized Compressible Elastic-Rod Equation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaolian Ai

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Consideration in this paper is the Cauchy problem of a generalized hyperelastic-rod wave equation. We first derive a wave-breaking mechanism for strong solutions, which occurs in finite time for certain initial profiles. In addition, we determine the existence of some new peaked solitary wave solutions.

  7. Four-dimensional boson field theory. II. Existence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baker, G.A. Jr.

    1986-01-01

    The existence of the continuum, quantum field theory found by Baker and Johnson [G. A. Baker, Jr. and J. D. Johnson, J. Phys. A 18, L261 (1985)] to be nontrivial is proved rigorously. It is proved to satisfy all usual requirements of such a field theory, except rotational invariance. Currently known information is consistent with rotational invariance however. Most of the usual properties of other known Euclidean boson quantum field theories hold here, in a somewhat weakened form. Summability of the sufficiently strongly ultraviolet cutoff bare coupling constant perturbation series is proved as well as a nonzero radius of convergence for high-temperature expansions of the corresponding continuous-spin Ising model. The description of the theory by these two series methods is shown to be equivalent. The field theory is probably not asymptotically free

  8. Quantum logics with existence property

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schindler, C.

    1991-01-01

    A quantum logic (σ-orthocomplete orthomodular poset L with a convex, unital, and separating set Δ of states) is said to have the existence property if the expectation functionals on lin(Δ) associated with the bounded observables of L form a vector space. Classical quantum logics as well as the Hilbert space logics of traditional quantum mechanics have this property. The author shows that, if a quantum logic satisfies certain conditions in addition to having property E, then the number of its blocks (maximal classical subsystems) must either be one (classical logics) or uncountable (as in Hilbert space logics)

  9. Hyperpolarizabilities of one and two electron ions under strongly coupled plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sen, Subhrangsu; Mandal, Puspajit; Kumar Mukherjee, Prasanta; Fricke, Burkhard

    2013-01-01

    Systematic investigations on the hyperpolarizabilities of hydrogen and helium like ions up to nuclear charge Z = 7 under strongly coupled plasma environment have been performed. Variation perturbation theory has been adopted to evaluate such properties for the one and two electron systems. For the two electron systems coupled Hartree-Fock theory, which takes care of partial electron correlation effects, has been utilised. Ion sphere model of the strongly coupled plasma, valid for ionic systems only, has been adopted for estimating the effect of plasma environment on the hyperpolarizability. The calculated free ion hyperpolarizability for all the systems is in good agreement with the existing data. Under confinement hyperpolarizabilities of one and two electron ions show interesting trend with respect to plasma coupling strength.

  10. The existence and regularity of time-periodic solutions to the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations in the whole space

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kyed, Mads

    2014-01-01

    The existence, uniqueness and regularity of time-periodic solutions to the Navier–Stokes equations in the three-dimensional whole space are investigated. We consider the Navier–Stokes equations with a non-zero drift term corresponding to the physical model of a fluid flow around a body that moves with a non-zero constant velocity. The existence of a strong time-periodic solution is shown for small time-periodic data. It is further shown that this solution is unique in a large class of weak solutions that can be considered physically reasonable. Finally, we establish regularity properties for any strong solution regardless of its size. (paper)

  11. Hydrochlorothiazide use is strongly associated with risk of lip cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pottegård, A; Hallas, J; Olesen, M

    2017-01-01

    Background: The diuretic hydrochlorothiazide is amongst the most frequently prescribed drugs in the United States and Western Europe, but there is suggestive evidence that hydrochlorothiazide use increases the risk of lip cancer. Objectives: To study the association between use of hydrochlorothia......Background: The diuretic hydrochlorothiazide is amongst the most frequently prescribed drugs in the United States and Western Europe, but there is suggestive evidence that hydrochlorothiazide use increases the risk of lip cancer. Objectives: To study the association between use...... of hydrochlorothiazide and squamous cell carcinoma of the lip. Methods: We conducted a case-control study using Danish nationwide registry data. From the Cancer Registry (2004-2012), we identified 633 case patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lip and matched them to 63 067 population controls using a risk......-set sampling strategy. Hydrochlorothiazide use (1995-2012) was obtained from the Prescription Registry and defined according to cumulative use. Applying conditional logistic regression, we calculated odds ratios (ORs) for SCC lip cancer associated with hydrochlorothiazide use, adjusting for predefined...

  12. Prediction and design of first super-strong liquid-crystalline polymers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dowell, F.

    1989-01-01

    This paper presents the details of the theoretical prediction and design (atom by atom, bond by bond) of the molecule chemical structures of the first candidate super-strong liquid-crystalline polymers (SS LCPs). These LCPs are the first LCPs designed to have good compressive strengths, as well as to have tensile strengths and tensile moduli significantly larger than those of existing strong LCPs (such as Kevlar). The key feature of this new class of LCPs is that the exceptional strength is three dimensional on a microscopic, molecular level (thus, on a macroscopic level), in contrast to present LCPs (such as Kevlar) with their one-dimensional exceptional strength. These SS LCPs also have some solubility and processing advantages over existing strong LCPs. These SS LCPs are specially-designed combined LCPs such that the side chains of a molecule interdigitate with the side chains of other molecules. This paper also presents other essential general and specific features required for SS LCPs. Considerations in the design of SS LCPs include the spacing distance between side chains along the backbone, the need for rigid sections in the backbone and side chains, the degree of polymerization, the length of the side chains, the regularity of spacing of the side chains along the backbone, the interdigitation of side chains in submolecular strips, the packing of the side chains on one or two sides of the backbone, the symmetry of the side chains, the points of attachment of the side chains to the backbone, the flexibility and size of the chemical group connecting each side chain to the backbone, the effect of semiflexible sections in the backbone and side chains, and the choice of types of dipolar and/or hydrogen bonding forces in the backbones and side chains for easy alignment

  13. Strong quantum scarring by local impurities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luukko, Perttu J. J.; Drury, Byron; Klales, Anna; Kaplan, Lev; Heller, Eric J.; Räsänen, Esa

    2016-11-01

    We discover and characterise strong quantum scars, or quantum eigenstates resembling classical periodic orbits, in two-dimensional quantum wells perturbed by local impurities. These scars are not explained by ordinary scar theory, which would require the existence of short, moderately unstable periodic orbits in the perturbed system. Instead, they are supported by classical resonances in the unperturbed system and the resulting quantum near-degeneracy. Even in the case of a large number of randomly scattered impurities, the scars prefer distinct orientations that extremise the overlap with the impurities. We demonstrate that these preferred orientations can be used for highly efficient transport of quantum wave packets across the perturbed potential landscape. Assisted by the scars, wave-packet recurrences are significantly stronger than in the unperturbed system. Together with the controllability of the preferred orientations, this property may be very useful for quantum transport applications.

  14. Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the United States to enhance the existing nuclear-material protection, control, and accounting systems at Mayak Production Association

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Starodubtsev, G.S.; Prishchepov, A.I.; Zatorsky, Y.M.; James, L.T.

    1997-01-01

    The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy (MINATOM) and the US Department of Energy (DOE) are engaged in joint, cooperative efforts to reduce the likelihood of nuclear proliferation by enhancing Material Protection, Control and Accounting (MPC ampersand A) systems in both countries. Mayak Production Association (MPA) is a major Russian nuclear enterprise within the nuclear complex that is operated by MINATOM. This paper describes the nature, scope, and status of the joint, cooperative efforts to enhance existing MPC ampersand A systems at MPA. Current cooperative efforts are focused on enhancements to the existing MPC ampersand A systems at four plants that are operated by MPA and that produce, process, handle and/or store proliferation-sensitive nuclear materials

  15. Cooperation Between the Russian Federation and the United States to Enhance the Existing Nuclear-Material Protection, Control, and Accounting Systems at Mayak Production Association

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cahalane, P.T.; Ehinger, M.H.; James, L.T.; Jarrett, J.H.; Lundgren, R.A.; Manatt, D.R.; Niederauer, G.F.; Olivos, J.D.; Prishchepov, A.I.; Starodubtsev, G.S.; Suda, S.C.; Tittemore, G.W.; Zatorsky, Y.M.

    1999-01-01

    The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy (MINATOM) and the US Department of Energy (DOE) are engaged in joint, cooperative efforts to reduce the likelihood of nuclear proliferation by enhancing Material Protection, Control and Accounting (MPC and A) systems in both countries. Mayak Production Association (Mayak) is a major Russian nuclear enterprise within the nuclear complex that is operated by lylINATOM. This paper describes the nature, scope, and status of the joint, cooperative efforts to enhance existing MPC and A systems at Mayak. Current cooperative efforts are focused on enhancements to the existing MPC and A systems at two of the plants operated by Mayak that work with proliferation-sensitive nuclear materials

  16. Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the United States to enhance the existing nuclear-material protection, control, and accounting systems at Mayak Production Association

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Starodubtsev, G.S.; Prishchepov, A.I.; Zatorsky, Y.M.; James, L.T. [and others

    1997-11-01

    The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy (MINATOM) and the US Department of Energy (DOE) are engaged in joint, cooperative efforts to reduce the likelihood of nuclear proliferation by enhancing Material Protection, Control and Accounting (MPC&A) systems in both countries. Mayak Production Association (MPA) is a major Russian nuclear enterprise within the nuclear complex that is operated by MINATOM. This paper describes the nature, scope, and status of the joint, cooperative efforts to enhance existing MPC&A systems at MPA. Current cooperative efforts are focused on enhancements to the existing MPC&A systems at four plants that are operated by MPA and that produce, process, handle and/or store proliferation-sensitive nuclear materials.

  17. An optimized absorbing potential for ultrafast, strong-field problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Youliang; Esry, B. D.

    2018-05-01

    Theoretical treatments of strong-field physics have long relied on the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. The most effective such treatments utilize a discrete spatial representation—a grid. Since most strong-field observables relate to the continuum portion of the wave function, the boundaries of the grid—which act as hard walls and thus cause reflection—can substantially impact the observables. Special care thus needs to be taken. While there exist a number of attempts to solve this problem—e.g., complex absorbing potentials and masking functions, exterior complex scaling, and coordinate scaling—none of them are completely satisfactory. The first of these is arguably the most popular, but it consumes a substantial fraction of the computing resources in any given calculation. Worse, this fraction grows with the dimensionality of the problem. In addition, no systematic way to design such a potential has been used in the strong-field community. In this work, we address these issues and find a much better solution. By comparing with previous widely used absorbing potentials, we find a factor of 3–4 reduction in the absorption range, given the same level of absorption over a specified energy interval.

  18. Life cycle assessment: Existing building retrofit versus replacement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darabi, Nura

    The embodied energy in building materials constitutes a large part of the total energy required for any building (Thormark 2001, 429). In working to make buildings more energy efficient this needs to be considered. Integrating considerations about life cycle assessment for buildings and materials is one promising way to reduce the amount of energy consumption being used within the building sector and the environmental impacts associated with that energy. A life cycle assessment (LCA) model can be utilized to help evaluate the embodied energy in building materials in comparison to the buildings operational energy. This thesis takes into consideration the potential life cycle reductions in energy and CO2 emissions that can be made through an energy retrofit of an existing building verses demolition and replacement with a new energy efficient building. A 95,000 square foot institutional building built in the 1960`s was used as a case study for a building LCA, along with a calibrated energy model of the existing building created as part of a previous Masters of Building Science thesis. The chosen case study building was compared to 10 possible improvement options of either energy retrofit or replacement of the existing building with a higher energy performing building in order to see the life cycle relationship between embodied energy, operational energy, and C02 emissions. As a result of completing the LCA, it is shown under which scenarios building retrofit saves more energy over the lifespan of the building than replacement with new construction. It was calculated that energy retrofit of the chosen existing institutional building would reduce the amount of energy and C02 emissions associated with that building over its life span.

  19. Strong, Weak and Branching Bisimulation for Transition Systems and Markov Reward Chains: A Unifying Matrix Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikola Trčka

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available We first study labeled transition systems with explicit successful termination. We establish the notions of strong, weak, and branching bisimulation in terms of boolean matrix theory, introducing thus a novel and powerful algebraic apparatus. Next we consider Markov reward chains which are standardly presented in real matrix theory. By interpreting the obtained matrix conditions for bisimulations in this setting, we automatically obtain the definitions of strong, weak, and branching bisimulation for Markov reward chains. The obtained strong and weak bisimulations are shown to coincide with some existing notions, while the obtained branching bisimulation is new, but its usefulness is questionable.

  20. Topics in strong Langmuir turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skoric, M.M.

    1981-01-01

    This thesis discusses certain aspects of the turbulence of a fully ionised non-isothermal plasma dominated by the Langmuir mode. Some of the basic properties of strongly turbulent plasmas are reviewed. In particular, interest is focused on the state of Langmuir turbulence, that is the turbulence of a simple externally unmagnetized plasma. The problem of the existence and dynamics of Langmuir collapse is discussed, often met as a non-linear stage of the modulational instability in the framework of the Zakharov equations (i.e. simple time-averaged dynamical equations). Possible macroscopic consequences of such dynamical turbulent models are investigated. In order to study highly non-linear collapse dynamics in its advanced stage, a set of generalized Zakharov equations are derived. Going beyond the original approximation, the author includes the effects of higher electron non-linearities and a breakdown of slow-timescale quasi-neutrality. He investigates how these corrections may influence the collapse stabilisation. Recently, it has been realised that the modulational instability in a Langmuir plasma will be accompanied by the collisionless-generation of a slow-timescale magnetic field. Accordingly, a novel physical situation has emerged which is investigated in detail. The stability of monochromatic Langmuir waves in a self-magnetized Langmuir plasma, is discussed, and the existence of a novel magneto-modulational instability shown. The wave collapse dynamics is investigated and a physical interpretation of the basic results is given. A problem of the transient analysis of an interaction of time-dependent electromagnetic pulses with linear cold plasma media is investigated. (Auth.)

  1. Streptomyces clavuligerus shows a strong association between TCA cycle intermediate accumulation and clavulanic acid biosynthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramirez-Malule, Howard; Junne, Stefan; Nicolás Cruz-Bournazou, Mariano; Neubauer, Peter; Ríos-Estepa, Rigoberto

    2018-05-01

    Clavulanic acid (CA) is produced by Streptomyces clavuligerus (S. clavuligerus) as a secondary metabolite. Knowledge about the carbon flux distribution along the various routes that supply CA precursors would certainly provide insights about metabolic performance. In order to evaluate metabolic patterns and the possible accumulation of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates during CA biosynthesis, batch and subsequent continuous cultures with steadily declining feed rates were performed with glycerol as the main substrate. The data were used to in silico explore the metabolic capabilities and the accumulation of metabolic intermediates in S. clavuligerus. While clavulanic acid accumulated at glycerol excess, it steadily decreased at declining dilution rates; CA synthesis stopped when glycerol became the limiting substrate. A strong association of succinate, oxaloacetate, malate, and acetate accumulation with CA production in S. clavuligerus was observed, and flux balance analysis (FBA) was used to describe the carbon flux distribution in the network. This combined experimental and numerical approach also identified bottlenecks during the synthesis of CA in a batch and subsequent continuous cultivation and demonstrated the importance of this type of methodologies for a more advanced understanding of metabolism; this potentially derives valuable insights for future successful metabolic engineering studies in S. clavuligerus.

  2. Compilation of Existing Neutron Screen Technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Chrysanthopoulou

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The presence of fast neutron spectra in new reactors is expected to induce a strong impact on the contained materials, including structural materials, nuclear fuels, neutron reflecting materials, and tritium breeding materials. Therefore, introduction of these reactors into operation will require extensive testing of their components, which must be performed under neutronic conditions representative of those expected to prevail inside the reactor cores when in operation. Due to limited availability of fast reactors, testing of future reactor materials will mostly take place in water cooled material test reactors (MTRs by tailoring the neutron spectrum via neutron screens. The latter rely on the utilization of materials capable of absorbing neutrons at specific energy. A large but fragmented experience is available on that topic. In this work a comprehensive compilation of the existing neutron screen technology is attempted, focusing on neutron screens developed in order to locally enhance the fast over thermal neutron flux ratio in a reactor core.

  3. Existence and convergence theorems for a class of multi-valued variational inclusions in Banach spaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chidume, C.E.; Zegeye, H.; Kazmi, K.R.

    2002-07-01

    An existence theorem for a new class of multi-valued variational inclusion problems is established in smooth Banach spaces. Further, it is shown that a sequence of a Mann-type iteration algorithm is strongly convergent to the solutions in this class of variational inclusion problems. (author)

  4. Serum uric acid is more strongly associated with impaired fasting glucose in women than in men from a community-dwelling population.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryuichi Kawamoto

    Full Text Available Serum uric acid (SUA levels are associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS and its components such as glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes. It is unknown whether there are gender-specific differences regarding the relationship between SUA levels, impaired fasting glucose (IFG and newly detected diabetes. We recruited 1,209 men aged 60±15 (range, 19-89 years and 1,636 women aged 63±12 (range, 19-89 years during their annual health examination from a single community. We investigated the association between SUA levels and six categories according to fasting plasma glucose (FPG level {normal fasting glucose (NFG, <100 mg/dL; high NFG-WHO, 100 to 109 mg/dL; IFG-WHO, 110 to 125 mg/dL; IFG-ADA, 100 to 125 mg/dL; newly detected diabetes, ≥126 mg/dL; known diabetes} SUA levels were more strongly associated with the different FPG categories in women compared with men. In women, the associations remained significant for IFG-WHO (OR, 1.23, 95% CI, 1.00-1.50 and newly detected diabetes (OR, 1.33, 95% CI, 1.03-1.72 following multivariate adjustment. However, in men all the associations were not significant. Thus, there was a significant interaction between gender and SUA level for newly detected diabetes (P = 0.005. SUA levels are associated with different categories of impaired fasting glucose in participants from community-dwelling persons, particularly in women.

  5. Handedness and "Open-Earedness": Strong Right-Handers Are Less Likely to Prefer Less Popular Musical Genres

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christman, Stephen D.

    2013-01-01

    Research shows that strong right-handedness is associated with decreased cognitive flexibility and decreased tendencies to update beliefs, arising from decreased interhemispheric interaction. In the current study, strong right-handedness was associated with decreased overall liking of less popular musical genres (with the specific genres of…

  6. Serum aspirin esterase is strongly associated with glucose and lipids in healthy subjects: different association patterns in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kotani Kazuhiko

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Aspirin esterase (AE activity can account for part of aspirin pharmacokinetics in the circulation, possibly being associated with the impairment of aspirin effectiveness as an inhibitor of platelet aggregation. Aims The study was aimed at investigating the correlations of serum AE activity with cholinesterase (ChE and metabolic variables in healthy subjects in comparison to subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM. Methods In cardiovascular disease-free T2DM subjects and healthy controls, the AE activity levels and/or the correlation patterns between AE and the other variables were analyzed. Results Neither AE nor ChE activities were higher in the subjects with T2DM. Serum AE activity strongly correlated with ChE as well as glucose/lipids variables such as total cholesterol and triglyceride in healthy subjects, while the correlations between AE and glucose/lipids variables were not present in T2DM subjects. Conclusions These data may reflect the pathophysiological changes between healthy and T2DM subjects. Our data may thus provide the basis for future studies to unravel the mechanisms.

  7. Wave, particle-family duality and the conservation of discrete symmetries in strong interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    van der Spuy, E.

    1984-01-01

    This paper starts from a nonlinear fermion field equation of motion with a strongly coupled self-interaction. Nonperturbative quark solutions of the equation of motion are constructed in terms of a Reggeized infinite component free spinor field. Such a field carries a family of strongly interacting unstable compounds lying on a Regge locus in the analytically continued quark spin. Such a quark field is naturally confined and also possesses the property of asymptotic freedom. Furthermore, the particular field self-regularizes the interactions and naturally breaks the chiral invariance of the equation of motion. We show why and how the existence of such a strongly coupled solution and its particle-family, wave duality forces a change in the field equation of motion such that it conserves C,P,T, although its individual interaction terms are of V-A and thus C,P nonconserving type

  8. Wave, particle-family duality and the conservation of discrete symmetries in strong interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van der Spuy, E.

    1984-01-01

    This paper starts from a nonlinear fermion field equation of motion with a strongly coupled selfinteraction. Nonperturbative quark solutions of the equation of motion are constructed in terms of a Reggeized infinite component free spinor field. Such a field carries a family of strongly interacting unstable compounds lying on a Regge locus in the analytically continued quark spin. Such a quark field is naturally confined and also possesses the property of asymptotic freedom. Furthermore the particular field selfregularizes the interactions and naturally breaks the chiral invariance of the equation of motion. We show why and how the existence of such a strongly coupled solution and its particle-family, wave duality forces a change in the field equation of motion such that it conserves C, P, T although its individual interaction terms are of V - A and thus C, P nonconserving type

  9. Radiation protection programme for existing exposure situation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramadhani, Hilali Hussein

    2016-04-01

    This study was conducted to develop the Radiation protection Programme (RPP) to ensure that measures are in place for protection of individuals from the existing source of exposure. The study established a number of protective and remedial actions to be considered by the responsible regulatory Authority, licensee for existing exposure in workplace and dwellings. Tanzania is endowed with a number NORMs processing industries with an experience of uncontrolled exploration and extraction of minerals and the use of unsafe mining methods leading to severe environmental damage and appalling living conditions in the mining communities. Some of NORMs industries have been abandoned due to lack of an effect management infrastructure. The residual radioactive materials have been found to be the most import source of existing exposure resulted from NORMs industries. The Radon gas and its progeny have also been found to be a source of existing exposure from natural source as well as the major source of risk and health effects associated with existing exposure situation. The following measures have been discovered to play a pivotal role in avoiding or reducing the source of exposure to individuals such as restriction of the use of the construction materials, restriction on the consumption of foodstuffs and restriction on the access to the land and buildings, the removal of the magnitude of the source in terms of activity concentration as well as improvement of ventilation in dwellings. Therefore, the regulatory body (Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission) should examine the major areas outlined in the established RRP for existing exposure situation resulted from the NORMs industries and natural sources so as to develop strategies that will ensure the adequate protection of members of the public and the environment as well as guiding operating organizations to develop radiation protection and safety measures for workers. (au)

  10. Does a causal relation between cardiovascular disease and periodontitis exist?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Belstrøm, Daniel; Damgaard, Christian; Nielsen, Claus H

    2012-01-01

    Inflammation is believed to play a central part in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, and much attention has been paid to the possible association between atherosclerosis and other inflammatory diseases. Periodontal disease is a common inflammatory disease affecting up to 50% of the adult...... population, and during the past two decades much research has focused on a possible association between periodontitis and cardiovascular disease. Here, we review the existing literature on the association between the two diseases....

  11. Strong association of HMB-45 expression with renal angiomyolipoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yaldiz, Mehmet; Kilinc, Nihal; Ozdemir, Enver

    2004-08-01

    Angiomyolipoma (AML) is a benign neoplasm consisting of varying mixtures of smooth muscle, blood vessels and fat. Although, most of these tumors are easy to recognize, some may pose a diagnostic dilemma due to unusual histologic features. Recently, it was suggested that melanosome-associated protein (HMB-45) immunoreactivity may be used for diagnostic confirmation of several neoplasm. The aim of this study is to analyze the diagnostic efficacy of HMB-45 in patients with AML. This study was carried out at the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey, during the period January 2000 to September 2003. HMB-45 immunoreactivity was analyzed in 6 patients with AML and in 34 patients with other renal and retroperitoneal pathologies, including 10 nephrectomized patients for non-neoplastic reasons by means of immunohistochemistry. Patients with AML were positive for HMB-45. Whereas, HMB-45 immunoreactivity was negative in all of the histologic specimens from the patients with renal cell carcinoma, retroperitoneal sarcomas, Wilms' tumor, lipoma, leiomyoma, and nephrectomized kidneys of non-neoplastic reason. The association of AML with HMB-45 immunoreactivity was highly significant (pHMB-45 may not be a melanocyte-restricted marker, and can be useful in differential diagnosis between AML and other tumors seen in kidney and retroperitoneal region.

  12. Global existence and uniform stabilization of a generalized dissipative Klein-Gordon equation type with boundary damping

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Zaiyun; Miao Xiujin; Chen Yuezhong; Liu Zhenhai

    2011-01-01

    In this paper, we prove the existence, uniqueness, and uniform stability of strong and weak solutions of the nonlinear generalized Klein-Gordon equation (1.1) 1 (see Sec. I) in bounded domains with nonlinear damped boundary conditions given by (1.1) 3 (see Sec. I) with some restrictions on function f(u), h(∇u), g(u t ), and b(x), we prove the existence and uniqueness by means of nonlinear semigroup method and obtain the uniform stabilization by using the multiplier technique.

  13. Strongly and weakly directed approaches to teaching multiple representation use in physics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrick B. Kohl

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Good use of multiple representations is considered key to learning physics, and so there is considerable motivation both to learn how students use multiple representations when solving problems and to learn how best to teach problem solving using multiple representations. In this study of two large-lecture algebra-based physics courses at the University of Colorado (CU and Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, we address both issues. Students in each of the two courses solved five common electrostatics problems of varying difficulty, and we examine their solutions to clarify the relationship between multiple representation use and performance on problems involving free-body diagrams. We also compare our data across the courses, since the two physics-education-research-based courses take substantially different approaches to teaching the use of multiple representations. The course at Rutgers takes a strongly directed approach, emphasizing specific heuristics and problem-solving strategies. The course at CU takes a weakly directed approach, modeling good problem solving without teaching a specific strategy. We find that, in both courses, students make extensive use of multiple representations, and that this use (when both complete and correct is associated with significantly increased performance. Some minor differences in representation use exist, and are consistent with the types of instruction given. Most significant are the strong and broad similarities in the results, suggesting that either instructional approach or a combination thereof can be useful for helping students learn to use multiple representations for problem solving and concept development.

  14. Strong-back safety latch

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DeSantis, G.N.

    1995-01-01

    The calculation decides the integrity of the safety latch that will hold the strong-back to the pump during lifting. The safety latch will be welded to the strong-back and will latch to a 1.5-in. dia cantilever rod welded to the pump baseplate. The static and dynamic analysis shows that the safety latch will hold the strong-back to the pump if the friction clamps fail and the pump become free from the strong-back. Thus, the safety latch will meet the requirements of the Lifting and Rigging Manual for under the hook lifting for static loading; it can withstand shock loads from the strong-back falling 0.25 inch

  15. Site response variation due to the existence of near-field cracks based on strong motion records in the Shi-Wen river valley, southern Taiwan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Chi-Shin; Yu, Teng-To; Peng, Wen-Fei; Yeh, Yeoin-Tein; Lin, Sih-Siao

    2014-10-01

    Site effect analysis has been applied to investigate soil classification, alluvium depth, and fracture detection, although the majority of previous studies have typically focused only on the response of large-scale single structures. In contrast, we investigated the site effect for small-scale cracks using a case study in southern Taiwan to provide a means of monitoring slope stability or foundation integrity in situ using only an accelerometer. We adopted both the reference site and horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio methods. We obtained seismographs associated with the typhoon-related development of a crack set (52 m long, 5 m deep) in a steep slope and compared the resonance frequency between two conditions (with and without cracks). Moreover, we divided the seismic waves into P, S, and coda waves and examined the seismic source effect. Our results demonstrate that frequencies of 14.5-17.5 Hz are most sensitive to these cracks, particularly for the E-W component of the P-waves, which coincides with the crack’s strike. Peak ground acceleration, which is controlled by seismic moment and attenuated distance, is another important factor determining the resonance results. Our results demonstrate that the ratio of temporal seismic waves can be used to detect the existence of nearby subsurface cracks.

  16. Site response variation due to the existence of near-field cracks based on strong motion records in the Shi-Wen river valley, southern Taiwan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Chi-Shin; Yu, Teng-To; Peng, Wen-Fei; Yeh, Yeoin-Tein; Lin, Sih-Siao

    2014-01-01

    Site effect analysis has been applied to investigate soil classification, alluvium depth, and fracture detection, although the majority of previous studies have typically focused only on the response of large-scale single structures. In contrast, we investigated the site effect for small-scale cracks using a case study in southern Taiwan to provide a means of monitoring slope stability or foundation integrity in situ using only an accelerometer. We adopted both the reference site and horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio methods. We obtained seismographs associated with the typhoon-related development of a crack set (52 m long, 5 m deep) in a steep slope and compared the resonance frequency between two conditions (with and without cracks). Moreover, we divided the seismic waves into P, S, and coda waves and examined the seismic source effect. Our results demonstrate that frequencies of 14.5−17.5 Hz are most sensitive to these cracks, particularly for the E−W component of the P-waves, which coincides with the crack’s strike. Peak ground acceleration, which is controlled by seismic moment and attenuated distance, is another important factor determining the resonance results. Our results demonstrate that the ratio of temporal seismic waves can be used to detect the existence of nearby subsurface cracks. (paper)

  17. THE APPLICATION OF LEAF ULTRASONIC RESONANCE TO VITIS VINIFERA L. SUGGESTS THE EXISTENCE OF A DIURNAL OSMOTIC ADJUSTMENT SUBJECTED TO PHOTOSYNTHESIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Domingo Sancho-Knapik

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of this study was to apply the air-coupled broad-band ultrasonic spectroscopy in attached transpiring leaves of Vitis vinifera L. to monitor changes in leaf water potential (Y through the measurements of the standardized value of the resonant frequency associated with the maximum transmitance (f/fo. With this purpose, the response of grapevine to a drought stress period was investigated in terms of leaf water status, ultrasounds, gas exchange and sugar accumulation. Two strong correlations were obtained between f/fo and Y measured at predawn (pd and at midday (md with different slopes. This fact implied the existence of two values of Y for a given value of f/fo, which was taken as a sign that the ultrasonic technique was not directly related to the overall Y, but only to one of its components: the turgor pressure (P. The difference in Y at constant f/fo (d was found to be dependent on net CO2 assimilation (A and might be used as a rough estimator of photosynthetic activity. It was then, the other main component of Y, osmotic potential (π, the one that may have lowered the values of midday Y with respect to predawn Y by the accumulation of sugars associated to net CO2 assimilation. This phenomenon suggests the existence of a diurnal osmotic adjustment in this species associated to sugars production in well-watered plants.

  18. Strong gravitational lensing by a Konoplya-Zhidenko rotating non-Kerr compact object

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Shangyun; Chen, Songbai; Jing, Jiliang, E-mail: shangyun_wang@163.com, E-mail: csb3752@hunnu.edu.cn, E-mail: jljing@hunnu.edu.cn [Institute of Physics and Department of Physics, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081 (China)

    2016-11-01

    Konoplya and Zhidenko have proposed recently a rotating non-Kerr black hole metric beyond General Relativity and make an estimate for the possible deviations from the Kerr solution with the data of GW 150914. We here study the strong gravitational lensing in such a rotating non-Kerr spacetime with an extra deformation parameter. We find that the condition of existence of horizons is not inconsistent with that of the marginally circular photon orbit. Moreover, the deflection angle of the light ray near the weakly naked singularity covered by the marginally circular orbit diverges logarithmically in the strong-field limit. In the case of the completely naked singularity, the deflection angle near the singularity tends to a certain finite value, whose sign depends on the rotation parameter and the deformation parameter. These properties of strong gravitational lensing are different from those in the Johannsen-Psaltis rotating non-Kerr spacetime and in the Janis-Newman-Winicour spacetime. Modeling the supermassive central object of the Milk Way Galaxy as a Konoplya-Zhidenko rotating non-Kerr compact object, we estimated the numerical values of observables for the strong gravitational lensing including the time delay between two relativistic images.

  19. Two-step excitation structure changes of luminescence centers and strong tunable blue emission on surface of silica nanospheres

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Lei, E-mail: nanoyang@qq.com; Jiang, Zhongcheng; Dong, Jiazhang; Zhang, Liuqian [Hunan University, College of Materials Science and Engineering (China); Pan, Anlian, E-mail: anlian.pan@gmail.com; Zhuang, Xiujuan [Hunan University, Key Laboratory for Micro-Nano Physics and Technology of Hunan Province (China)

    2015-10-15

    We report a scheme for investigating two-step stimulated structure change of luminescence centers. Amorphous silica nanospheres with uniform diameter of 9–15 nm have been synthesized by Stöber method. Strong hydroxyl-related infrared-absorption band is observed in infrared spectrum. The surface hydroxyl groups exert great influence on the luminescent behavior of silica. They provide stable and intermediate energy states to accommodate excitation electrons. The existence of these surface states reduces the energy barrier of photochemical reactions, creating conditions for two-step excitation process. By carefully examining excitation and emission process, the nearest excitation band is absent in both optical absorption spectrum and excitation spectrum. This later generated state confirms the generation of new luminescence centers as well as the existence of photochemical reactions. Stimulated by different energies, two-step excitation process impels different photochemical reactions, prompting generation of different lattice defects on surface area of silica. Thereby, tunable luminescence is achieved. After thermal treatment, strong gap excitation band appears with the disappearance of strong surface excitation band. Strong blue luminescence also disappears. The research is significance to precise introducing structural defects and controlling position of luminescence peaks.

  20. Strongly Deterministic Population Dynamics in Closed Microbial Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zak Frentz

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Biological systems are influenced by random processes at all scales, including molecular, demographic, and behavioral fluctuations, as well as by their interactions with a fluctuating environment. We previously established microbial closed ecosystems (CES as model systems for studying the role of random events and the emergent statistical laws governing population dynamics. Here, we present long-term measurements of population dynamics using replicate digital holographic microscopes that maintain CES under precisely controlled external conditions while automatically measuring abundances of three microbial species via single-cell imaging. With this system, we measure spatiotemporal population dynamics in more than 60 replicate CES over periods of months. In contrast to previous studies, we observe strongly deterministic population dynamics in replicate systems. Furthermore, we show that previously discovered statistical structure in abundance fluctuations across replicate CES is driven by variation in external conditions, such as illumination. In particular, we confirm the existence of stable ecomodes governing the correlations in population abundances of three species. The observation of strongly deterministic dynamics, together with stable structure of correlations in response to external perturbations, points towards a possibility of simple macroscopic laws governing microbial systems despite numerous stochastic events present on microscopic levels.

  1. A semigroup approach to the strong ergodic theorem of the multistate stable population process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inaba, H

    1988-01-01

    "In this paper we first formulate the dynamics of multistate stable population processes as a partial differential equation. Next, we rewrite this equation as an abstract differential equation in a Banach space, and solve it by using the theory of strongly continuous semigroups of bounded linear operators. Subsequently, we investigate the asymptotic behavior of this semigroup to show the strong ergodic theorem which states that there exists a stable distribution independent of the initial distribution. Finally, we introduce the dual problem in order to obtain a logical definition for the reproductive value and we discuss its applications." (SUMMARY IN FRE) excerpt

  2. Strong association of HMB-45 expression with renal angiomyolipoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yaldiz, Mehmet; Kilinc, Niha; Ozdemir, Enver

    2004-01-01

    Angiomyolipoma (AML) is a benign neoplasm consisting of varying mixtures of smooth muscle, blood vessels and fat. Although, most of these tumors are easy to recognize, some may pose a diagnostic dilemma due to unusual histologic features. Recently, it was suggested that melanosome-associated protein (HMB-45) immunoreactivity may be used for diagnostic confirmation of several neoplasm. The aim of this study is to analyze the diagnostic efficacy of HMB-45 in patients with AML. This study was carried out at the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey, during the period January 2000 to September 2003. HMB-45 immunoreactivity was analyzed in 6 patients with AML and in 34 patients with other renal and retroperitoneal pathologies, including 10 nephrectomized patients for non-neoplastic reasons by means of immunohistochemistry. Patients with AML were positive for HMB-45. Whereas, HMB-45 immunoreactivity was negative in all of the histologic specimens from the patients with renal cell carcinoma, retroperitoneal sarcomas, Wilms tumor, lipoma, leiomyoma, and nephrectomized kidneys of non-neoplastic reason. The association of AML with HMB-45 immunoreactivity was highly significant (p<0.001). Our findings suggest that HMB-45 may not be a melanocyte-restricted marker, and can be useful in differential diagnosis between AML and other tumors seen in kidney and retroperitoneal region. (author)

  3. The EXIST Mission Concept Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fishman, Gerald J.; Grindlay, J.; Hong, J.

    2008-01-01

    EXIST is a mission designed to find and study black holes (BHs) over a wide range of environments and masses, including: 1) BHs accreting from binary companions or dense molecular clouds throughout our Galaxy and the Local Group, 2) supermassive black holes (SMBHs) lying dormant in galaxies that reveal their existence by disrupting passing stars, and 3) SMBHs that are hidden from our view at lower energies due to obscuration by the gas that they accrete. 4) the birth of stellar mass BHs which is accompanied by long cosmic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) which are seen several times a day and may be associated with the earliest stars to form in the Universe. EXIST will provide an order of magnitude increase in sensitivity and angular resolution as well as greater spectral resolution and bandwidth compared with earlier hard X-ray survey telescopes. With an onboard optical-infra red (IR) telescope, EXIST will measure the spectra and redshifts of GRBs and their utility as cosmological probes of the highest z universe and epoch of reionization. The mission would retain its primary goal of being the Black Hole Finder Probe in the Beyond Einstein Program. However, the new design for EXIST proposed to be studied here represents a significant advance from its previous incarnation as presented to BEPAC. The mission is now less than half the total mass, would be launched on the smallest EELV available (Atlas V-401) for a Medium Class mission, and most importantly includes a two-telescope complement that is ideally suited for the study of both obscured and very distant BHs. EXIST retains its very wide field hard X-ray imaging High Energy Telescope (HET) as the primary instrument, now with improved angular and spectral resolution, and in a more compact payload that allows occasional rapid slews for immediate optical/IR imaging and spectra of GRBs and AGN as well as enhanced hard X-ray spectra and timing with pointed observations. The mission would conduct a 2 year full sky survey in

  4. Global existence and blow-up phenomena for two-component Degasperis-Procesi system and two-component b-family system

    OpenAIRE

    Liu, Jingjing; Yin, Zhaoyang

    2014-01-01

    This paper is concerned with global existence and blow-up phenomena for two-component Degasperis-Procesi system and two-component b-family system. The strategy relies on our observation on new conservative quantities of these systems. Several new global existence results and a new blowup result of strong solutions to the two-component Degasperis- Procesi system and the two-component b-family system are presented by using these new conservative quantities.

  5. Strong-motion observations of the M 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake sequence and development of the N-shake strong-motion network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dixit, Amod; Ringler, Adam; Sumy, Danielle F.; Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Hough, Susan E.; Martin, Stacey; Gibbons, Steven; Luetgert, James H.; Galetzka, John; Shrestha, Surya; Rajaure, Sudhir; McNamara, Daniel E.

    2015-01-01

    We present and describe strong-motion data observations from the 2015 M 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake sequence collected using existing and new Quake-Catcher Network (QCN) and U.S. Geological Survey NetQuakes sensors located in the Kathmandu Valley. A comparison of QCN data with waveforms recorded by a conventional strong-motion (NetQuakes) instrument validates the QCN data. We present preliminary analysis of spectral accelerations, and peak ground acceleration and velocity for earthquakes up to M 7.3 from the QCN stations, as well as preliminary analysis of the mainshock recording from the NetQuakes station. We show that mainshock peak accelerations were lower than expected and conclude the Kathmandu Valley experienced a pervasively nonlinear response during the mainshock. Phase picks from the QCN and NetQuakes data are also used to improve aftershock locations. This study confirms the utility of QCN instruments to contribute to ground-motion investigations and aftershock response in regions where conventional instrumentation and open-access seismic data are limited. Initial pilot installations of QCN instruments in 2014 are now being expanded to create the Nepal–Shaking Hazard Assessment for Kathmandu and its Environment (N-SHAKE) network.

  6. On autostability of almost prime models relative to strong constructivizations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goncharov, Sergey S

    2011-01-01

    Questions of autostability and algorithmic dimension of models go back to papers by A.I. Malcev and by A. Froehlich and J.C. Shepherdson in which the effect of the existence of computable presentations which are non-equivalent from the viewpoint of their algorithmic properties was first discovered. Today there are many papers by various authors devoted to investigations of such questions. The present paper deals with the question of inheritance of the properties of autostability and non-autostability relative to strong constructivizations under elementary extensions for almost prime models. Bibliography: 37 titles.

  7. Interplay of Anderson localization and strong interaction in disordered systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Henseler, Peter

    2010-01-15

    We study the interplay of disorder localization and strong local interactions within the Anderson-Hubbard model. Taking into account local Mott-Hubbard physics and static screening of the disorder potential, the system is mapped onto an effective single-particle Anderson model, which is studied within the self-consistent theory of electron localization. For fermions, we find rich nonmonotonic behavior of the localization length {xi}, particularly in two-dimensional systems, including an interaction-induced exponential enhancement of {xi} for small and intermediate disorders and a strong reduction of {xi} due to hopping suppression by strong interactions. In three dimensions, we identify for half filling a Mott-Hubbard-assisted Anderson localized phase existing between the metallic and the Mott-Hubbard-gapped phases. For small U there is re-entrant behavior from the Anderson localized phase to the metallic phase. For bosons, the unrestricted particle occupation number per lattice site yields a monotonic enhancement of {xi} as a function of decreasing interaction, which we assume to persist until the superfluid Bose-Einstein condensate phase is entered. Besides, we study cold atomic gases expanding, by a diffusion process, in a weak random potential. We show that the density-density correlation function of the expanding gas is strongly affected by disorder and we estimate the typical size of a speckle spot, i.e., a region of enhanced or depleted density. Both a Fermi gas and a Bose-Einstein condensate (in a mean-field approach) are considered. (orig.)

  8. Interplay of Anderson localization and strong interaction in disordered systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henseler, Peter

    2010-01-01

    We study the interplay of disorder localization and strong local interactions within the Anderson-Hubbard model. Taking into account local Mott-Hubbard physics and static screening of the disorder potential, the system is mapped onto an effective single-particle Anderson model, which is studied within the self-consistent theory of electron localization. For fermions, we find rich nonmonotonic behavior of the localization length ξ, particularly in two-dimensional systems, including an interaction-induced exponential enhancement of ξ for small and intermediate disorders and a strong reduction of ξ due to hopping suppression by strong interactions. In three dimensions, we identify for half filling a Mott-Hubbard-assisted Anderson localized phase existing between the metallic and the Mott-Hubbard-gapped phases. For small U there is re-entrant behavior from the Anderson localized phase to the metallic phase. For bosons, the unrestricted particle occupation number per lattice site yields a monotonic enhancement of ξ as a function of decreasing interaction, which we assume to persist until the superfluid Bose-Einstein condensate phase is entered. Besides, we study cold atomic gases expanding, by a diffusion process, in a weak random potential. We show that the density-density correlation function of the expanding gas is strongly affected by disorder and we estimate the typical size of a speckle spot, i.e., a region of enhanced or depleted density. Both a Fermi gas and a Bose-Einstein condensate (in a mean-field approach) are considered. (orig.)

  9. Radiative properties of strongly magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weisheit, J.C.

    1993-11-01

    The influence of strong magnetic fields on quantum phenomena continues to be a topic of much interest to physicists and astronomers investigating a wide array of problems - the formation of high energy-density plasmas in pulsed power experiments, the crustal structure and radiative properties of neutron stars, transport coefficients of matter irradiated by subpicosecond lasers, the spectroscopy of magnetic white dwarf stars, the quantum Hall effect, etc. The passage of time finds more questions being asked than being answered in this subject, where even the hydrogen atom open-quotes paradigmclose quotes remains a major challenge. This theoretical program consists of two distinct parts: (1) investigation into the structure and transport properties of many-electron atoms in fields B > 10 8 Gauss; and (2) extension of spectral lineshape methods for diagnosing fields in strongly magnetized plasmas. Research during the past year continued to be focused on the first topic, primarily because of the interest and skills of Dr. E.P. Lief, the postdoctoral research associate who was hired to work on the proposal

  10. Modified multiple time scale method for solving strongly nonlinear damped forced vibration systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Razzak, M. A.; Alam, M. Z.; Sharif, M. N.

    2018-03-01

    In this paper, modified multiple time scale (MTS) method is employed to solve strongly nonlinear forced vibration systems. The first-order approximation is only considered in order to avoid complexicity. The formulations and the determination of the solution procedure are very easy and straightforward. The classical multiple time scale (MS) and multiple scales Lindstedt-Poincare method (MSLP) do not give desire result for the strongly damped forced vibration systems with strong damping effects. The main aim of this paper is to remove these limitations. Two examples are considered to illustrate the effectiveness and convenience of the present procedure. The approximate external frequencies and the corresponding approximate solutions are determined by the present method. The results give good coincidence with corresponding numerical solution (considered to be exact) and also provide better result than other existing results. For weak nonlinearities with weak damping effect, the absolute relative error measures (first-order approximate external frequency) in this paper is only 0.07% when amplitude A = 1.5 , while the relative error gives MSLP method is surprisingly 28.81%. Furthermore, for strong nonlinearities with strong damping effect, the absolute relative error found in this article is only 0.02%, whereas the relative error obtained by MSLP method is 24.18%. Therefore, the present method is not only valid for weakly nonlinear damped forced systems, but also gives better result for strongly nonlinear systems with both small and strong damping effect.

  11. Review of existing studies and unresolved problems associated with socio-economic impact of nuclear powerplants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hendrickson, P.L.; King, J.C.; O'Connell, M.S.

    1975-07-01

    Preparation of socio-economic impact statements for nuclear powerplants began only a few years ago. The number of these statements is increasing, and some states, such as Washington, now require them as a condition to state approval for thermal powerplants. The major purpose of this paper was to review existing socio-economic impact statements to identify where additional research to improve the impact analysis process would be useful and appropriate. A second purpose was to summarize the type of information included in existing statements. Toward this end a number of socio-economic impact statements were reviewed. Most of the statements are for nuclear power plants; however, some are for other large construction projects. The statements reviewed are largely predictive in nature; i.e., they attempt to predict socio-economic impacts based on the existing knowledge. A few of the reports contain retroactive case studies of plants already completed. One describes an ongoing monitoring analysis of plants under construction. As a result of this preliminary study, a need was identified for a better-defined impact statement methodology and for guidelines identifying appropriate areas for analysis and analytical techniques

  12. An Improved Strong Tracking Cubature Kalman Filter for GPS/INS Integrated Navigation Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Kaiqiang; Li, Jie; Zhang, Xi; Zhang, Xiaoming; Shen, Chong; Cao, Huiliang; Yang, Yanyu; Liu, Jun

    2018-06-12

    The cubature Kalman filter (CKF) is widely used in the application of GPS/INS integrated navigation systems. However, its performance may decline in accuracy and even diverge in the presence of process uncertainties. To solve the problem, a new algorithm named improved strong tracking seventh-degree spherical simplex-radial cubature Kalman filter (IST-7thSSRCKF) is proposed in this paper. In the proposed algorithm, the effect of process uncertainty is mitigated by using the improved strong tracking Kalman filter technique, in which the hypothesis testing method is adopted to identify the process uncertainty and the prior state estimate covariance in the CKF is further modified online according to the change in vehicle dynamics. In addition, a new seventh-degree spherical simplex-radial rule is employed to further improve the estimation accuracy of the strong tracking cubature Kalman filter. In this way, the proposed comprehensive algorithm integrates the advantage of 7thSSRCKF’s high accuracy and strong tracking filter’s strong robustness against process uncertainties. The GPS/INS integrated navigation problem with significant dynamic model errors is utilized to validate the performance of proposed IST-7thSSRCKF. Results demonstrate that the improved strong tracking cubature Kalman filter can achieve higher accuracy than the existing CKF and ST-CKF, and is more robust for the GPS/INS integrated navigation system.

  13. The non-ideal associated species model applied to the system copper-indium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kellogg, H.H.

    1991-01-01

    The liquid copper-indium system displays complex thermochemical behavior. Deviations from Raoult's law change from positive to negative, and the integral heat of mixing also varies from positive to strongly negative and is markedly dependent on temperature. This behavior was successfully modelled, over the entire composition range and for a temperature range of 400 K, using the non-ideal associated-species concept, with InCu 3 as the associated species. Independent evidence exists for association at the composition InCu 3 , from measurements of magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity and Hall effect. In this paper, the applicability of the model to other systems is discussed

  14. <strong>Pervasive strong>technology> in the strong>classroom>

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Lasse Juel; Majgaard, Gunver

    2010-01-01

    This paper discusses learning potentials of pervasive technology when used in the classroom setting. Explicitly this paper uses the research and development project “Octopus” as its point of departure and as the foundation for reflections on how learning takes place in intelligent contexts. We...... propose that pervasive and tangible media like the Octopus reshapes learning not only by utilizing the body as the epicenter for experiences, but also by changing the traditional temporal and vertical learning design (vertical refers to temporal gab between learned knowledge and applied knowledge......) normally associated with the traditional school system. Initial analyses on the research project “Octopus” indicate that the temporal and vertical learning patterns are replaced by spatial and simultaneous learning design. We suggest that this change signals a fundamental approach and at the same time...

  15. Strongly coupled band in 140Gd

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Falla-Sotelo, F.; Oliveira, J.R.B.; Rao, M.N.

    2005-01-01

    Several high-K states are known to exist in the mass 130-140 region. For the N=74 even-even isotopes, Kπ = 8 - isomers, with lifetimes ranging from ns to ms, are known in 128 Xe, 130 Ba, 132 Ce, 134 Nd, 136 Sm, and 138 Gd[. In 140 Gd, we have observed for the first time a band also based on an Iπ = 8 - state. This could be the first case of a Kπ = 8 - state observed in an N=76 even-even isotope. The systematics of the Kπ = 8 - isomeric states in N=74 isotopes has been studied by A.M. Bruce et al. These states decay towards the K = 0 ground state band, and the transitions are K-forbidden. The 140 Gd case presents strong similarities but also some significant differences with relation to the N=74 isotopes. We propose the same configuration but with larger deformation in 140 Gd

  16. Renormalization in theories with strong vector forces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kocic, A.

    1991-01-01

    There are not many field theories in four dimensions that have sensible ultraviolet and interesting (non-trivial) infrared behavior. At present, asymptotically free theories seem to have deserved their legitimacy and there is a strong prejudice that they might be the only ones to have such a distinction. This belief stems mostly from the fact that most of the knowledge of field theory in four dimensions comes from perturbation theory. However, nonperturbative studies of the lower dimensional theories reveal a host of interesting phenomena that are perturbative studies of the lower dimensional theories reveal a host of interesting phenomena that perturbatively inaccessible. The lack of asymptotic freedom implies that the coupling constant grows at short distances and perturbation theory breaks down. Thus, in such theories, ultraviolet behavior requires nonperturbative treatment. Recently, the interest in strongly coupled gauge theories has been revived. In particularly, four dimensional quantum electrodynamics has received considerable attention. This was motivated by the discovery of an ultraviolet stable fixed point at strong couplings. If this fixed point would turn out to be non-gaussian, then QED would be the first nontrivial nonasymptotically free theory in four dimensions. The importance of such a result would be twofold. First, the old question of the existence of QED could be settled. Of course, this would be the case provided that the low energy limit of the theory actually describes photons and electrons; apriori, there is no reason to assume this. Second, the discovery of a nontrivial nonasymptotically free theory would be of great paradigmatic value. The theories which quenched QED resembles the most are nonabelian gauge theories with many flavors with beta-function positive or vanishing at weak couplings. These theories are at present considered as viable candidates for technicolor unification schemes

  17. Strong Langmuir turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goldman, M.V.

    1984-01-01

    After a brief discussion of beam-excited Langmuir turbulence in the solar wind, we explain the criteria for wave-particle, three-wave and strong turbulence interactions. We then present the results of a numerical integration of the Zakharov equations, which describe the strong turbulence saturation of a weak (low-density) high energy, bump-on-tail beam instability. (author)

  18. Strong Motion Earthquake Data Values of Digitized Strong-Motion Accelerograms, 1933-1994

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Strong Motion Earthquake Data Values of Digitized Strong-Motion Accelerograms is a database of over 15,000 digitized and processed accelerograph records from...

  19. Chromosome 17: association of a large inversion polymorphism with corticosteroid response in asthma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tantisira, Kelan G; Lazarus, Ross; Litonjua, Augusto A; Klanderman, Barbara; Weiss, Scott T

    2008-08-01

    A 900-kb inversion exists within a large region of conserved linkage disequilibrium (LD) on chromosome 17. CRHR1 is located within the inversion region and associated with inhaled corticosteroid response in asthma. We hypothesized that CRHR1 variants are in LD with the inversion, supporting a potential role for natural selection in the genetic response to corticosteroids. We genotyped six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) spanning chromosome 17: 40,410,565-42,372,240, including four SNPs defining inversion status. Similar allele frequencies and strong LD were noted between the inversion and a CRHR1 SNP previously associated with lung function response to inhaled corticosteroids. Each inversion-defining SNP was strongly associated with inhaled corticosteroid response in adult asthma (P values 0.002-0.005). The CRHR1 response to inhaled corticosteroids may thus be explained by natural selection resulting from inversion status or by long-range LD with another gene. Additional pharmacogenetic investigations into regions of chromosomal diversity, including copy number variation and inversions, are warranted.

  20. Dense Output for Strong Stability Preserving Runge–Kutta Methods

    KAUST Repository

    Ketcheson, David I.

    2016-12-10

    We investigate dense output formulae (also known as continuous extensions) for strong stability preserving (SSP) Runge–Kutta methods. We require that the dense output formula also possess the SSP property, ideally under the same step-size restriction as the method itself. A general recipe for first-order SSP dense output formulae for SSP methods is given, and second-order dense output formulae for several optimal SSP methods are developed. It is shown that SSP dense output formulae of order three and higher do not exist, and that in any method possessing a second-order SSP dense output, the coefficient matrix A has a zero row.

  1. The exotic molecular ion H43+ in a strong magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olivares P, H.

    2006-01-01

    Using the variational method, a detailed study of the lowest m = 0, -1 electronic states of the exotic molecular ion H3+ 4 in a strong magnetic field, in the linear symmetric configuration parallel to the direction of the magnetic field is carried out. A extended study of the 1σg ground state (J.C. Lopez and A.Turbiner, Phys. Rev A 62, 022510, 2000) was performed obtaining that the potential energy curve displays a sufficiently deep minimum for finite internuclear distances, indicating the possible existence of the molecular ion H 4 3+ , for magnetic fields of strength B > ∼ 3 x 10 13 G. It is demonstrated that the excited state 1π u , can exist for a magnetic field B = 4.414 x 10 13 G corresponding to the limit of applicability of the non-relativistic theory. (Author)

  2. Strong solutions for an incompressible Navier-Stokes/Allen-Cahn system with different densities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yinghua; Huang, Mingxia

    2018-06-01

    In this paper, we investigate a coupled Navier-Stokes/Allen-Cahn system describing a diffuse interface model for two-phase flow of viscous incompressible fluids with different densities in a bounded domain Ω \\subset R^N(N=2,3). We prove the existence and uniqueness of local strong solutions to the initial boundary value problem when the initial density function ρ _0 has a positive lower bound.

  3. Strong chaos in one-dimensional quantum system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, C.-D.; Wei, C.-H.

    2008-01-01

    According to the Poincare-Bendixson theorem, a minimum of three autonomous equations is required to exhibit deterministic chaos. Because a one-dimensional quantum system is described by only two autonomous equations using de Broglie-Bohm's trajectory interpretation, chaos in one-dimensional quantum systems has long been considered impossible. We will prove in this paper that chaos phenomenon does exist in one-dimensional quantum systems, if the domain of quantum motions is extended to complex space by noting that the quantum world is actually characterized by a four-dimensional complex spacetime according to the E (∞) theory. Furthermore, we point out that the interaction between the real and imaginary parts of complex trajectories produces a new chaos phenomenon unique to quantum systems, called strong chaos, which describes the situation that quantum trajectories may emerge and diverge spontaneously without any perturbation in the initial position

  4. Scaling properties of the pairing problem in the strong coupling limit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barbaro, M.B.; Cenni, R.; Molinari, A.; Quaglia, M.R.

    2013-01-01

    We study the excited states of the pairing Hamiltonian providing an expansion for their energy in the strong coupling limit. To assess the role of the pairing interaction we apply the formalism to the case of a heavy atomic nucleus. We show that only a few statistical moments of the level distribution are sufficient to yield an accurate estimate of the energy for not too small values of the coupling G and we give the analytic expressions of the first four terms of the series. Further, we discuss the convergence radius G sing of the expansion showing that it strongly depends upon the details of the level distribution. Furthermore G sing is not related to the critical values of the coupling G crit , which characterize the physics of the pairing Hamiltonian, since it can exist even in the absence of these critical points. -- Highlights: •We study the excitation spectrum of the pairing Hamiltonian. •We provide an analytic expansion around the strong coupling limit. •We discuss the convergence radius of the expansion. •We connect the radius with the critical points of H

  5. Expansion potential for existing nuclear power station sites

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cope, D. F.; Bauman, H. F.

    1977-09-26

    This report is a preliminary analysis of the expansion potential of the existing nuclear power sites, in particular their potential for development into nuclear energy centers (NECs) of 10 (GW(e) or greater. The analysis is based primarily on matching the most important physical characteristics of a site against the dominating site criteria. Sites reviewed consist mainly of those in the 1974 through 1976 ERDA Nuclear Power Stations listings without regard to the present status of reactor construction plans. Also a small number of potential NEC sites that are not associated with existing power stations were reviewed. Each site was categorized in terms of its potential as: a dispersed site of 5 GW(e) or less; a mini-NEC of 5 to 10 GW(e); NECs of 10 to 20 GW(e); and large NECs of more than 20 GW(e). The sites were categorized on their ultimate potential without regard to political considerations that might restrain their development. The analysis indicates that nearly 40 percent of existing sites have potential for expansion to nuclear energy centers.

  6. Expansion potential for existing nuclear power station sites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cope, D.F.; Bauman, H.F.

    1977-01-01

    This report is a preliminary analysis of the expansion potential of the existing nuclear power sites, in particular their potential for development into nuclear energy centers (NECs) of 10 (GW(e) or greater. The analysis is based primarily on matching the most important physical characteristics of a site against the dominating site criteria. Sites reviewed consist mainly of those in the 1974 through 1976 ERDA Nuclear Power Stations listings without regard to the present status of reactor construction plans. Also a small number of potential NEC sites that are not associated with existing power stations were reviewed. Each site was categorized in terms of its potential as: a dispersed site of 5 GW(e) or less; a mini-NEC of 5 to 10 GW(e); NECs of 10 to 20 GW(e); and large NECs of more than 20 GW(e). The sites were categorized on their ultimate potential without regard to political considerations that might restrain their development. The analysis indicates that nearly 40 percent of existing sites have potential for expansion to nuclear energy centers

  7. Neutron star mass limit at 2M{sub ⊙} supports the existence of a CEP

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alvarez-Castillo, D. [JINR Dubna, Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Dubna (Russian Federation); Benic, S. [University of Zagreb, Department of Physics, Zagreb (Croatia); Blaschke, D. [JINR Dubna, Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Dubna (Russian Federation); National Research Nuclear University (MEPhI), Moscow (Russian Federation); University of Wroclaw, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Wroclaw (Poland); Han, Sophia [University of Tennessee, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Physics Division, Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Typel, S. [GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Darmstadt (Germany)

    2016-08-15

    We point out that the very existence of a ''horizontal branch'' in the mass-radius characteristics for neutron stars indicates a strong first-order phase transition and thus supports the existence of a critical endpoint (CEP) of first-order phase transitions in the QCD phase diagram. This branch would sample a sequence of hybrid stars with quark matter core, leading to the endpoint of stable compact star configurations with the highest possible baryon densities. Since we know of the existence of compact stars with 2M{sub ⊙}, this hypothetical branch has to lie in the vicinity of this mass value, if it exists. We report here a correlation between the maximal radius of the horizontal branch and the pressure at the onset of hadron-to-quark matter phase transition, which is likely to be a universal quantity of utmost relevance to the upcoming experiments with heavy-ion collisions at NICA and FAIR. (orig.)

  8. On the mixed phase of strongly interacting matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suleymanov, M.K.; Abdinov, O.B.; Belashev, B.Z.; Guseynaliyev, Y.G.; Vodoplanov, A.S.

    2005-01-01

    Full text : The studying of the behavior of some characteristics of hadron-nuclear and nuclear-nuclear interactions as a function of the collision centrality Q is an important experimental method to get information about the changes of nuclear matter phase, because the increasing of the centrality could lead to the growth of the nuclear matter baryon density. The regime change in the behavior of some centrality depending characteristics of events is expected by the varying the Q. It would be the signal about the phase transition. This method is considered as the best tool reaching the quark-gluon plasma phase of strongly interacting matter. Some experimental results demonstrate already the existence of the regime changes in the event characteristics behavior as a function of collision centrality

  9. Detectable gravitational waves from very strong phase transitions in the general NMSSM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huber, Stephan J.; Nardini, Germano; Bern Univ.

    2015-12-01

    We study the general NMSSM with an emphasis on the parameter regions with a very strong first-order electroweak phase transition (EWPT). In the presence of heavy fields coupled to the Higgs sector, the analysis can be problematic due to the existence of sizable radiative corrections. In this paper we propose a subtraction scheme that helps to circumvent this problem. For simplicity we focus on a parameter region that is by construction hidden from the current collider searches. The analysis proves that (at least) in the identified parameter region the EWPT can be very strong and striking gravitational wave signals can be produced. The corresponding gravitational stochastic background can potentially be detected at the planned space-based gravitational wave observatory eLISA, depending on the specific experiment design that will be approved.

  10. The QCD mass gap and quark deconfinement scales as mass bounds in strong gravity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burikham, Piyabut [Chulalongkorn University, High Energy Physics Theory Group, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Bangkok (Thailand); Harko, Tiberiu [Babes-Bolyai University, Department of Physics, Cluj-Napoca (Romania); University College London, Department of Mathematics, London (United Kingdom); Lake, Matthew J. [Sun Yat-Sen University, School of Physics, Guangzhou (China); Nanyang Technological University, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Singapore (Singapore); Naresuan University, The Institute for Fundamental Study, ' ' The Tah Poe Academia Institute' ' , Phitsanulok (Thailand); Thailand Center of Excellence in Physics, Ministry of Education, Bangkok (Thailand)

    2017-11-15

    Though not a part of mainstream physics, Salam's theory of strong gravity remains a viable effective model for the description of strong interactions in the gauge singlet sector of QCD, capable of producing particle confinement and asymptotic freedom, but not of reproducing interactions involving SU(3) color charge. It may therefore be used to explore the stability and confinement of gauge singlet hadrons, though not to describe scattering processes that require color interactions. It is a two-tensor theory of both strong interactions and gravity, in which the strong tensor field is governed by equations formally identical to the Einstein equations, apart from the coupling parameter, which is of order 1 GeV{sup -1}. We revisit the strong gravity theory and investigate the strong gravity field equations in the presence of a mixing term which induces an effective strong cosmological constant, Λ{sub f}. This introduces a strong de Sitter radius for strongly interacting fermions, producing a confining bubble, which allows us to identify Λ{sub f} with the 'bag constant' of the MIT bag model, B ≅ 2 x 10{sup 14} g cm{sup -3}. Assuming a static, spherically symmetric geometry, we derive the strong gravity TOV equation, which describes the equilibrium properties of compact hadronic objects. From this, we determine the generalized Buchdahl inequalities for a strong gravity 'particle', giving rise to upper and lower bounds on the mass/radius ratio of stable, compact, strongly interacting objects. We show, explicitly, that the existence of the lower mass bound is induced by the presence of Λ{sub f}, producing a mass gap, and that the upper bound corresponds to a deconfinement phase transition. The physical implications of our results for holographic duality in the context of the AdS/QCD and dS/QCD correspondences are also discussed. (orig.)

  11. Iterative solutions of nonlinear equations with strongly accretive or strongly pseudocontractive maps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chidume, C.E.

    1994-03-01

    Let E be a real q-uniformly smooth Banach space. Suppose T is a strongly pseudo-contractive map with open domain D(T) in E. Suppose further that T has a fixed point in D(T). Under various continuity assumptions on T it is proved that each of the Mann iteration process or the Ishikawa iteration method converges strongly to the unique fixed point of T. Related results deal with iterative solutions of nonlinear operator equations involving strongly accretive maps. Explicit error estimates are also provided. (author). 38 refs

  12. Childhood ADHD is strongly associated with a broad range of psychiatric disorders during adolescence: a population-based birth cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshimasu, Kouichi; Barbaresi, William J; Colligan, Robert C; Voigt, Robert G; Killian, Jill M; Weaver, Amy L; Katusic, Slavica K

    2012-10-01

    To evaluate associations between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and comorbid psychiatric disorders using research-identified incident cases of ADHD and population-based controls. Subjects included a birth cohort of all children born 1976-1982 remaining in Rochester, MN after age five (n = 5,718). Among them we identified 379 ADHD incident cases and 758 age-gender matched non-ADHD controls, passively followed to age 19 years. All psychiatric diagnoses were identified and abstracted, but only those confirmed by qualified medical professionals were included in the analysis. For each psychiatric disorder, cumulative incidence rates for subjects with and without ADHD were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Corresponding hazard ratios (HR) were estimated using Cox models adjusted for gender and mother's age and education at the subject's birth. The association between ADHD and the likelihood of having an internalizing or externalizing disorder was summarized by estimating odds ratios (OR). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder was associated with a significantly increased risk of adjustment disorders (HR = 3.88), conduct/oppositional defiant disorder (HR = 9.54), mood disorders (HR = 3.67), anxiety disorders (HR = 2.94), tic disorders (HR = 6.53), eating disorders (HR = 5.68), personality disorders (HR = 5.80), and substance-related disorders (HR = 4.03). When psychiatric comorbidities were classified on the internalization-externalization dimension, ADHD was strongly associated with coexisting internalizing/externalizing (OR = 10.6), or externalizing-only (OR = 10.0) disorders. This population-based study confirms that children with ADHD are at significantly increased risk for a wide range of psychiatric disorders. Besides treating the ADHD, clinicians should identify and provide appropriate treatment for psychiatric comorbidities. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

  13. Major Depressive Disorder Is Associated with Broad Impairments on Neuropsychological Measures of Executive Function: A Meta-Analysis and Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snyder, Hannah R.

    2013-01-01

    Cognitive impairments are now widely acknowledged as an important aspect of major depressive disorder (MDD), and it has been proposed that executive function (EF) may be particularly impaired in patients with MDD. However, the existence and nature of EF impairments associated with depression remain strongly debated. Although many studies have…

  14. Does a Relationship Exist Between Lower Body Power and Balance Scores Among Older Adults?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shim, Andrew; Harr, Brady; Waller, Mike

    2018-03-12

    Falls are the second-leading cause of unintentional injury and death worldwide. To determine if a relationship exists between lower body power scores and center of pressure (CoP) and limits of stability (LoS) scores. A one-shot case study design (n = 13) was selected for the investigation. All participants were assessed stability scores via computerized posturography to determine CoP and LoS balance scores. Participants stood on a perturbed surface with their eyes open and closed. An experimental stair ramp with a switch mat timing device was used to determine lower body power scores in watts. There was a strong correlation (r = 0.725, p = 0.005) between the posterior (LoS) plane and relative peak power. An intraclass R revealed a strong correlation among the three trials (R = 0.831) performed on the stair ramp. Muscle power output and LoS scores have moderate to strong correlations with balance scores in older adults.

  15. Effect of strong disorder on three-dimensional chiral topological insulators: Phase diagrams, maps of the bulk invariant, and existence of topological extended bulk states

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Juntao; Fine, Carolyn; Prodan, Emil

    2014-11-01

    The effect of strong disorder on chiral-symmetric three-dimensional lattice models is investigated via analytical and numerical methods. The phase diagrams of the models are computed using the noncommutative winding number, as functions of disorder strength and model's parameters. The localized/delocalized characteristic of the quantum states is probed with level statistics analysis. Our study reconfirms the accurate quantization of the noncommutative winding number in the presence of strong disorder, and its effectiveness as a numerical tool. Extended bulk states are detected above and below the Fermi level, which are observed to undergo the so-called "levitation and pair annihilation" process when the system is driven through a topological transition. This suggests that the bulk invariant is carried by these extended states, in stark contrast with the one-dimensional case where the extended states are completely absent and the bulk invariant is carried by the localized states.

  16. Seasonal variability of Dinophysis spp. and Protoceratium reticulatum associated to lipophilic shellfish toxins in a strongly stratified Chilean fjord

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alves-de-Souza, Catharina; Varela, Daniel; Contreras, Cristóbal; de La Iglesia, Pablo; Fernández, Pamela; Hipp, Byron; Hernández, Cristina; Riobó, Pilar; Reguera, Beatriz; Franco, José M.; Diogène, Jorge; García, Carlos; Lagos, Néstor

    2014-03-01

    The fine scale vertical distribution of Dinophysis spp. and Protoceratium reticulatum (potential producers of lipophilic shellfish toxins, LSTs) and its relation with LSTs in shellfish was studied in Reloncaví fjord, a strongly stratified system in Southern Chile. Samples were taken over two years from late spring to early autumn (2007-2008 period) and from early spring to late summer (2008-2009 period). Dinophysis spp., in particular Dinophysis acuminata, were always detected, often forming thin layers in the region of the salinity driven pycnocline, with cell maxima for D. acuminata of 28.5×103 cells L-1 in March 2008 and 17.1×103 cells L-1 in November 2008. During the 2008-2009 sampling period, blooms of D. acuminata co-occurred with high densities of cryptophyceans and the ciliate Mesodinium spp. The highest levels of pectenotoxin-2 (PTX-2; 2.2 ng L-1) were found in the plankton in February 2009, associated with moderate densities of D. acuminata, Dinophysis tripos and Dinophysis subcircularis (0.1-0.6×103 cells L-1). However, only trace levels of PTX-2 were observed in bivalves at that time. Dinophysistoxin (DTX-1 and DTX-3) levels in bivalves and densities of Dinophysis spp. were not well correlated. Low DTX levels in bivalves observed during a major bloom of D. acuminata in March 2008 suggested that there is a large seasonal intraspecific variability in toxin content of Dinophysis spp. driven by changes in population structure associated with distinct LST toxin profiles in Reloncaví fjord during the study period. A heterogeneous vertical distribution was also observed for P. reticulatum, whose presence was restricted to summer months. A bloom of this species of 2.2×103 cells L-1 at 14 m depth in February 2009 was positively correlated with high concentrations of yessotoxins in bivalves (51-496 ng g-1) and plankton samples (3.2 ng L-1). Our results suggest that a review of monitoring strategies for Dinophysis spp. in strongly stratified fjord systems

  17. Strong influence of dietary intake and physical activity on body fatness in elderly Japanese men: age-associated loss of polygenic resistance against obesity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanisawa, Kumpei; Ito, Tomoko; Sun, Xiaomin; Ise, Ryuken; Oshima, Satomi; Cao, Zhen-Bo; Sakamoto, Shizuo; Tanaka, Masashi; Higuchi, Mitsuru

    2014-09-01

    Genome-wide association studies identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with body mass index (BMI) in middle-aged populations; however, it is unclear whether these SNPs are associated with body fatness in elderly people. We examined the association between genetic risk score (GRS) from BMI-associated SNPs and body fatness in elderly Japanese men. We also examined the contribution of GRS, dietary macronutrient intake, and physical activity to body fatness by different age groups. GRS was calculated from 10 BMI-associated SNPs in 84 middle-aged (30-64 years) and 97 elderly (65-79 years) Japanese men; subjects were divided into low, middle, and high GRS groups. Dietary macronutrient intake was assessed using a questionnaire, and physical activity was evaluated using both a questionnaire and an accelerometer. The middle-aged individuals with a high GRS had greater BMI; waist circumference; and total abdominal fat, visceral fat, and subcutaneous fat areas than the middle-aged individuals with low GRS, whereas the indicators were not different between the GRS groups in elderly individuals. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that GRS was the strongest predictor of BMI, total abdominal fat, and visceral fat in the middle-aged group, whereas fat, alcohol, and protein intakes or vigorous-intensity physical activity were more strongly associated with these indicators than was GRS in the elderly group. These results suggest that GRS from BMI-associated SNPs is not predictive of body fatness in elderly Japanese men. The stronger contribution of dietary macronutrient intake and physical activity to body fatness may attenuate the genetic predisposition in elderly men.

  18. Strong intrinsic motivation

    OpenAIRE

    Dessi, Roberta; Rustichini, Aldo

    2015-01-01

    A large literature in psychology, and more recently in economics, has argued that monetary rewards can reduce intrinsic motivation. We investigate whether the negative impact persists when intrinsic motivation is strong, and test this hypothesis experimentally focusing on the motivation to undertake interesting and challenging tasks, informative about individual ability. We find that this type of task can generate strong intrinsic motivation, that is impervious to the effect of monetary incen...

  19. On the Existence and Uniqueness of Rv-Generalized Solution for Dirichlet Problem with Singularity on All Boundary

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. Rukavishnikov

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The existence and uniqueness of the Rv-generalized solution for the first boundary value problem and a second order elliptic equation with coordinated and uncoordinated degeneracy of input data and with strong singularity solution on all boundary of a two-dimensional domain are established.

  20. JC Polyomavirus Infection Is Strongly Controlled by Human Leucocyte Antigen Class II Variants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sundqvist, Emilie; Buck, Dorothea; Warnke, Clemens

    2014-01-01

    sequence-specific oligonucleotide (PCR-SSO) method. An initial GWAS screen displayed a strong HLA class II region signal. The HLA-DRB1*15 haplotype was strongly negatively associated to JCV sero-status in Scandinavian MS cases (OR = 0.42, p = 7×10(-15)) and controls (OR = 0.53, p = 2×10(-5)). In contrast...

  1. Pre-existing mutations in reverse transcriptase of hepatitis B virus in treatment-naive Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Xu

    Full Text Available High rate of viral replication and lacking of proofreading activity in hepatitis B virus (HBV polymerase lead to the generation of mutations in HBV virus. Mutations in the reverse transcriptase (RT region of HBV polymerase are demonstrated to be strongly associated with drug resistance during antiviral treatment. However, the presence of mutations as well as its clinical significance in treatment-naïve hepatitis patients (defined as pre-existing mutations need to be further investigated. In the present study, a total of 168 serum samples from treatment-naive chronic hepatitis B (CHB patients were collected, and the RT region of HBV polymerase was sequenced. The results showed that pre-existing mutations in the RT region of HBV polymerase were detected in 43 of 168 (25.6% treatment-naive CHB patients within which there were no well-characterized primary nucleotide analogs (NAs resistance sites. Three dominant sites at rt191, rt207 and rt226 were found mutant in 7(16.28%, 8(18.60%, and 14(32.56% samples respectively among these 43 patients. No significant correlation was found between pre-existing mutations and gender, age, HBV genotype, ALT, HBeAg or HBV DNA loads. However, patients with pre-existing RT mutations under HBeAg sero-negative status exhibited decreased HBV DNA loads, which contributed to the decreased HBV DNA loads in the total HBeAg sero-negative patients. The above investigation indicated that there was a prevalence of pre-existing mutations in RT region of HBV polymerase which might affect the serum HBV DNA level in treatment-naive CHB patients. Its effects on the occurrence of NAs resistance and the prognosis after treatment need to be further investigated.

  2. Dark matter and dark energy from the solution of the strong CP problem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mainini, Roberto; Bonometto, Silvio A

    2004-09-17

    The Peccei-Quinn (PQ) solution of the strong CP problem requires the existence of axions, which are viable candidates for dark matter. If the Nambu-Goldstone potential of the PQ model is replaced by a potential V(|Phi|) admitting a tracker solution, the scalar field |Phi| can account for dark energy, while the phase of Phi yields axion dark matter. If V is a supergravity (SUGRA) potential, the model essentially depends on a single parameter, the energy scale Lambda. Once we set Lambda approximately equal to 10(10) GeV at the quark-hadron transition, |Phi| naturally passes through values suitable to solve the strong CP problem, later growing to values providing fair amounts of dark matter and dark energy.

  3. Micro-universes and strong black-roles: a purely geometric approach to elementary particles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Recami, E.; Raciti, F.; Rodrigues Junior, W.A.; Zanchin, V.T.

    1993-09-01

    A panoramic view is presented of a proposed unified, bi-scale theory of gravitational and strong interactions [which is mathematically analogous to the last version of N. Rosen's bi-metric theory; and yields physical results similar to strong gravity's]. This theory, is purely geometrical in nature, adopting the methods of General Relativity for the description of hadron structure and strong interactions. In particular, hadrons are associated with strong black-holes, from the external point of view, and with micro-universes, from the internal point of view. Among the results herein presented, it should be mentioned the derivation: of confinement and asymptotic freedom from the hadron constituents; of the Yukawa behaviour for the potential at the static limit; of the strong coupling constant, and of mesonic mass spectra. (author)

  4. Strong and weak adsorption of CO{sub 2} on PuO{sub 2} (1 1 0) surfaces from first principles calculations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu, H.L. [Science and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory, P.O. Box 718-35, Mianyang 621907 (China); Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Deng, X.D. [Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Li, G.; Lai, X.C. [Science and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory, P.O. Box 718-35, Mianyang 621907 (China); Meng, D.Q., E-mail: yuhuilong2002@126.com [Science and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory, P.O. Box 718-35, Mianyang 621907 (China)

    2014-10-15

    Highlights: • The CO{sub 2} adsorption on PuO{sub 2} (1 1 0) surface was studied by GGA + U. • Both weak and strong adsorptions exist between CO{sub 2} and the PuO{sub 2} (1 1 0) surface. • Electrostatic interactions were involved in the weak interactions. • Covalent bonding was developed in the strong adsorptions. - Abstract: The CO{sub 2} adsorption on plutonium dioxide (PuO{sub 2}) (1 1 0) surface was studied using projector-augmented wave (PAW) method based on density-functional theory corrected for onsite Coulombic interactions (GGA + U). It is found that CO{sub 2} has several different adsorption features on PuO{sub 2} (1 1 0) surface. Both weak and strong adsorptions exist between CO{sub 2} and the PuO{sub 2} (1 1 0) surface. Further investigation of partial density of states (PDOS) and charge density difference on two typical absorption sites reveal that electrostatic interactions were involved in the weak interactions, while covalent bonding was developed in the strong adsorptions.

  5. Poppers, Kaposi's sarcoma, and HIV infection: empirical example of a strong confounding effect?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morabia, A

    1995-01-01

    Are there empirical examples of strong confounding effects? Textbooks usually show examples of weak confounding or use hypothetical examples of strong confounding to illustrate the paradoxical consequences of not separating out the effect of the studied exposure from that of second factor acting as a confounder. HIV infection is a candidate strong confounder of the spuriously high association reported between consumption of poppers, a sexual stimulant, and risk of Kaposi's sarcoma in the early phase of the AIDS epidemic. To examine this hypothesis, assumptions must be made on the prevalence of HIV infection among cases of Kaposi's sarcoma and on the prevalence of heavy popper consumption according to HIV infection in cases and controls. Results show that HIV infection may have confounded the poppers-Kaposi's sarcoma association. However, it cannot be ruled out that HIV did not qualify as a confounder because it was either an intermediate variable or an effect modifier of the association between popper inhalation and Kaposi's sarcoma. This example provides a basis to discuss the mechanism by which confounding occurs as well as the practical importance of confounding in epidemiologic research.

  6. Winter habitat associations of diurnal raptors in Californias Central Valley

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pandolrno, E.R.; Herzog, M.P.; Hooper, S.L.; Smith, Z.

    2011-01-01

    The wintering raptors of California's Central Valley are abundant and diverse. Despite this, little information exists on the habitats used by these birds in winter. We recorded diurnal raptors along 19 roadside survey routes throughout the Central Valley for three consecutive winters between 2007 and 2010. We obtained data sufficient to determine significant positive and negative habitat associations for the White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus), Bald Eagle {Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus), Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis), Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus), American Kestrel (Falco sparverius), and Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus). The Prairie Falcon and Ferruginous and Rough-legged hawks showed expected strong positive associations with grasslands. The Bald Eagle and Northern Harrier were positively associated not only with wetlands but also with rice. The strongest positive association for the White-tailed Kite was with wetlands. The Red-tailed Hawk was positively associated with a variety of habitat types but most strongly with wetlands and rice. The American Kestrel, Northern Harrier, and White-tailed Kite were positively associated with alfalfa. Nearly all species were negatively associated with urbanized landscapes, orchards, and other intensive forms of agriculture. The White-tailed Kite, Northern Harrier, Redtailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, and American Kestrel showed significant negative associations with oak savanna. Given the rapid conversion of the Central Valley to urban and intensive agricultural uses over the past few decades, these results have important implications for conservation of these wintering raptors in this region.

  7. A Study of Strong Stability of Distributed Systems. Ph.D. Thesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cataltepe, Tayfun

    1989-01-01

    The strong stability of distributed systems is studied and the problem of characterizing strongly stable semigroups of operators associated with distributed systems is addressed. Main emphasis is on contractive systems. Three different approaches to characterization of strongly stable contractive semigroups are developed. The first one is an operator theoretical approach. Using the theory of dilations, it is shown that every strongly stable contractive semigroup is related to the left shift semigroup on an L(exp 2) space. Then, a decomposition for the state space which identifies strongly stable and unstable states is introduced. Based on this decomposition, conditions for a contractive semigroup to be strongly stable are obtained. Finally, extensions of Lyapunov's equation for distributed parameter systems are investigated. Sufficient conditions for weak and strong stabilities of uniformly bounded semigroups are obtained by relaxing the equivalent norm condition on the right hand side of the Lyanupov equation. These characterizations are then applied to the problem of feedback stabilization. First, it is shown via the state space decomposition that under certain conditions a contractive system (A,B) can be strongly stabilized by the feedback -B(*). Then, application of the extensions of the Lyapunov equation results in sufficient conditions for weak, strong, and exponential stabilizations of contractive systems by the feedback -B(*). Finally, it is shown that for a contractive system, the first derivative of x with respect to time = Ax + Bu (where B is any linear bounded operator), there is a related linear quadratic regulator problem and a corresponding steady state Riccati equation which always has a bounded nonnegative solution.

  8. Strongly increasing solutions of cyclic systems of second order differential equations with power-type nonlinearities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaroslav Jaroš

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available We consider \\(n\\-dimensional cyclic systems of second order differential equations \\[(p_i(t|x_{i}'|^{\\alpha_i -1}x_{i}'' = q_{i}(t|x_{i+1}|^{\\beta_i-1}x_{i+1},\\] \\[\\quad i = 1,\\ldots,n, \\quad (x_{n+1} = x_1 \\tag{\\(\\ast\\}\\] under the assumption that the positive constants \\(\\alpha_i\\ and \\(\\beta_i\\ satisfy \\(\\alpha_1{\\ldots}\\alpha_n \\gt \\beta_1{\\ldots}\\beta_n\\ and \\(p_i(t\\ and \\(q_i(t\\ are regularly varying functions, and analyze positive strongly increasing solutions of system (\\(\\ast\\ in the framework of regular variation. We show that the situation for the existence of regularly varying solutions of positive indices for (\\(\\ast\\ can be characterized completely, and moreover that the asymptotic behavior of such solutions is governed by the unique formula describing their order of growth precisely. We give examples demonstrating that the main results for (\\(\\ast\\ can be applied to some classes of partial differential equations with radial symmetry to acquire accurate information about the existence and the asymptotic behavior of their radial positive strongly increasing solutions.

  9. Strong monogamy of bipartite and genuine multipartite entanglement: the Gaussian case.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adesso, Gerardo; Illuminati, Fabrizio

    2007-10-12

    We demonstrate the existence of general constraints on distributed quantum correlations, which impose a trade-off on bipartite and multipartite entanglement at once. For all N-mode Gaussian states under permutation invariance, we establish exactly a monogamy inequality, stronger than the traditional one, that by recursion defines a proper measure of genuine N-partite entanglement. Strong monogamy holds as well for subsystems of arbitrary size, and the emerging multipartite entanglement measure is found to be scale invariant. We unveil its operational connection with the optimal fidelity of continuous variable teleportation networks.

  10. Local condensate depletion at trap center under strong interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yukalov, V. I.; Yukalova, E. P.

    2018-04-01

    Cold trapped Bose-condensed atoms, interacting via hard-sphere repulsive potentials are considered. Simple mean-field approximations show that the condensate distribution inside a harmonic trap always has the shape of a hump with the maximum condensate density occurring at the trap center. However, Monte Carlo simulations at high density and strong interactions display the condensate depletion at the trap center. The explanation of this effect of local condensate depletion at trap center is suggested in the frame of self-consistent theory of Bose-condensed systems. The depletion is shown to be due to the existence of the anomalous average that takes into account pair correlations and appears in systems with broken gauge symmetry.

  11. Testing strong interaction theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ellis, J.

    1979-01-01

    The author discusses possible tests of the current theories of the strong interaction, in particular, quantum chromodynamics. High energy e + e - interactions should provide an excellent means of studying the strong force. (W.D.L.)

  12. Socioeconomic factors associated with outcome after cardiac arrest in patients under the age of 65.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uray, Thomas; Mayr, Florian B; Fitzgibbon, James; Rittenberger, Jon C; Callaway, Clifton W; Drabek, Tomas; Fabio, Anthony; Angus, Derek C; Kochanek, Patrick M; Dezfulian, Cameron

    2015-08-01

    In a prior study of seven North American cities Pittsburgh had the highest crude rate of cardiac arrest deaths in patients 18 to 64 years of age, particularly in neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic status (SES). We hypothesized that lower SES, associated poor health behaviors (e.g., illicit drug use) and pre-existing comorbid conditions (grouped as socioeconomic factors [SE factors]) could affect the type and severity of cardiac arrest, thus outcomes. We retrospectively identified patients aged 18 to 64 years treated for in-hospital (IHCA) and out-of hospital arrest (OHCA) at two Pittsburgh hospitals between January 2010 and July 2012. We abstracted data on baseline demographics and arrest characteristics like place of residence, insurance and employment status. Favorable cerebral performance category [CPC] (1 or 2) was our primary outcome. We examined the associations between SE factors, cardiac arrest variables and outcome as well as post-resuscitation care. Among 415 subjects who met inclusion criteria, unfavorable CPC were more common in patients who were unemployed, had a history of drug abuse or hypertension. In OHCA, favorable CPC was more often associated with presentation with ventricular fibrillation/tachycardia (OR 3.53, 95% CI 1.43-8.74, p = 0.006) and less often associated with non-cardiovascular arrest etiology (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.08-0.62, p = 0.004). We found strong associations between specific SE factors and arrest factors associated with outcome in OHCA patients only. Significant differences in post-resuscitation care existed based on injury severity, not on SES. SE factors strongly influence type and severity of OHCA but not IHCA resulting in an association with outcomes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Perceptual Sensitivity and Response to Strong Stimuli Are Related

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna C. Bolders

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available To shed new light on the long-standing debate about the (independence of sensitivity to weak stimuli and overreactivity to strong stimuli, we examined the relation between these tendencies within the neurobehavioral framework of the Predictive and Reactive Control Systems (PARCS theory (Tops et al., 2010, 2014. Whereas previous studies only considered overreactivity in terms of the individual tendency to experience unpleasant affect (punishment reactivity resulting from strong sensory stimulation, we also took the individual tendency to experience pleasant affect (reward reactivity resulting from strong sensory stimulation into account. According to PARCS theory, these temperamental tendencies overlap in terms of high reactivity toward stimulation, but oppose each other in terms of the response orientation (approach or avoid. PARCS theory predicts that both types of reactivity to strong stimuli relate to sensitivity to weak stimuli, but that these relationships are suppressed due to the opposing relationship between reward and punishment reactivity. We measured punishment and reward reactivity to strong stimuli and sensitivity to weak stimuli using scales from the Adult Temperament Questionnaire (Evans and Rothbart, 2007. Sensitivity was also measured more objectively using the masked auditory threshold. We found that sensitivity to weak stimuli (both self-reported and objectively assessed was positively associated with self-reported punishment and reward reactivity to strong stimuli, but only when these reactivity measures were controlled for each other, implicating a mutual suppression effect. These results are in line with PARCS theory and suggest that sensitivity to weak stimuli and overreactivity are dependent, but this dependency is likely to be obscured if punishment and reward reactivity are not both taken into account.

  14. Strong-interaction nonuniversality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Volkas, R.R.; Foot, R.; He, X.; Joshi, G.C.

    1989-01-01

    The universal QCD color theory is extended to an SU(3) 1 direct product SU(3) 2 direct product SU(3) 3 gauge theory, where quarks of the ith generation transform as triplets under SU(3)/sub i/ and singlets under the other two factors. The usual color group is then identified with the diagonal subgroup, which remains exact after symmetry breaking. The gauge bosons associated with the 16 broken generators then form two massive octets under ordinary color. The interactions between quarks and these heavy gluonlike particles are explicitly nonuniversal and thus an exploration of their physical implications allows us to shed light on the fundamental issue of strong-interaction universality. Nonuniversality and weak flavor mixing are shown to generate heavy-gluon-induced flavor-changing neutral currents. The phenomenology of these processes is studied, as they provide the major experimental constraint on the extended theory. Three symmetry-breaking scenarios are presented. The first has color breaking occurring at the weak scale, while the second and third divorce the two scales. The third model has the interesting feature of radiatively induced off-diagonal Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements

  15. Co-existence of Gel and Fluid Lipid Domains in Single-component Phospholipid Membranes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Armstrong, Clare L [McMaster University; Barrett, M [McMaster University; Toppozini, L [McMaster University; Yamani, Zahra [Canadian Neutron Beam Centre, National Research Council, Chalk River Laboratorie; Kucerka, Norbert [Canadian Neutron Beam Centre and Comelius University (Slovakia); Katsaras, John [ORNL; Fragneto, Giovanna [Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL); Rheinstadter, Maikel C [McMaster University

    2012-01-01

    Lateral nanostructures in membranes, so-called rafts, are believed to strongly influence membrane properties and functions. The experimental observation of rafts has proven difficult as they are thought to be dynamic structures that likely fluctuate on nano- to microsecond time scales. Using neutron diffraction we present direct experimental evidence for the co-existence of gel and fluid lipid domains in a single-component phospholipid membrane made of DPPC as it undergoes its main phase transition. The coherence length of the neutron beam sets a lower limit for the size of structures that can be observed. Neutron coherence lengths between 30 and 242A used in this study were obtained by varying the incident neutron energy and the resolution of the neutron spectrometer. We observe Bragg peaks corresponding to co-existing nanometer sized structures, both in out-of-plane and in-plane scans, by tuning the neutron coherence length. During the main phase transition, instead of a continuous transition that shows a pseudo-critical behavior, we observe the co-existence of gel and fluid domains.

  16. Combined Conformal Strongly-Coupled Magnetic Resonance for Efficient Wireless Power Transfer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matjaz Rozman

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a hybrid circuit between a conformal strongly-coupled magnetic resonance (CSCMR and a strongly-coupled magnetic resonance (SCMR, for better wireless power transmission (WPT. This combination promises to enhance the flexibility of the proposed four-loop WPT system. The maximum efficiency at various distances is achieved by combining coupling-matching between the source and transmitting coils along with the coupling factor between the transmitting and receiving coils. Furthermore, the distance between transmitting and receiving coils is investigated along with the distance relationship between the source loop and transmission coil, in order to achieve the maximum efficiency of the proposed hybrid WPT system. The results indicate that the proposed approach can be effectively employed at distances comparatively smaller than the maximum distance without frequency matching. The achievable efficiency can be as high as 84% for the whole working range of the transmitter. In addition, the proposed hybrid system allows more spatial freedom compared to existing chargers.

  17. In vivo Ebola virus infection leads to a strong innate response in circulating immune cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caballero, Ignacio S; Honko, Anna N; Gire, Stephen K; Winnicki, Sarah M; Melé, Marta; Gerhardinger, Chiara; Lin, Aaron E; Rinn, John L; Sabeti, Pardis C; Hensley, Lisa E; Connor, John H

    2016-09-05

    Ebola virus is the causative agent of a severe syndrome in humans with a fatality rate that can approach 90 %. During infection, the host immune response is thought to become dysregulated, but the mechanisms through which this happens are not entirely understood. In this study, we analyze RNA sequencing data to determine the host response to Ebola virus infection in circulating immune cells. Approximately half of the 100 genes with the strongest early increases in expression were interferon-stimulated genes, such as ISG15, OAS1, IFIT2, HERC5, MX1 and DHX58. Other highly upregulated genes included cytokines CXCL11, CCL7, IL2RA, IL2R1, IL15RA, and CSF2RB, which have not been previously reported to change during Ebola virus infection. Comparing this response in two different models of exposure (intramuscular and aerosol) revealed a similar signature of infection. The strong innate response in the aerosol model was seen not only in circulating cells, but also in primary and secondary target tissues. Conversely, the innate immune response of vaccinated macaques was almost non-existent. This suggests that the innate response is a major aspect of the cellular response to Ebola virus infection in multiple tissues. Ebola virus causes a severe infection in humans that is associated with high mortality. The host immune response to virus infection is thought to be an important aspect leading to severe pathology, but the components of this overactive response are not well characterized. Here, we analyzed how circulating immune cells respond to the virus and found that there is a strong innate response dependent on active virus replication. This finding is in stark contrast to in vitro evidence showing a suppression of innate immune signaling, and it suggests that the strong innate response we observe in infected animals may be an important contributor to pathogenesis.

  18. Stratification of TAD boundaries reveals preferential insulation of super-enhancers by strong boundaries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Yixiao; Lazaris, Charalampos; Sakellaropoulos, Theodore; Lozano, Aurelie; Kambadur, Prabhanjan; Ntziachristos, Panagiotis; Aifantis, Iannis; Tsirigos, Aristotelis

    2018-02-07

    The metazoan genome is compartmentalized in areas of highly interacting chromatin known as topologically associating domains (TADs). TADs are demarcated by boundaries mostly conserved across cell types and even across species. However, a genome-wide characterization of TAD boundary strength in mammals is still lacking. In this study, we first use fused two-dimensional lasso as a machine learning method to improve Hi-C contact matrix reproducibility, and, subsequently, we categorize TAD boundaries based on their insulation score. We demonstrate that higher TAD boundary insulation scores are associated with elevated CTCF levels and that they may differ across cell types. Intriguingly, we observe that super-enhancers are preferentially insulated by strong boundaries. Furthermore, we demonstrate that strong TAD boundaries and super-enhancer elements are frequently co-duplicated in cancer patients. Taken together, our findings suggest that super-enhancers insulated by strong TAD boundaries may be exploited, as a functional unit, by cancer cells to promote oncogenesis.

  19. Color-emotion associations and color preferences: A case study for residences

    OpenAIRE

    Manav, Banu

    2007-01-01

    This study examines existing beliefs about "color" focusing on color-emotion associations by discussing how color can be used as a way of communicator to fulfill human needs in residences. Fifty people from various age groups participated in the study. They were asked to match a list of adjectives with the proper color samples from the catalogue of a quite popular color producer firm in Turkey. Results indicate that there is a strong dependency between the choice and use of green at residence...

  20. Runaway breakdown in strong electric field as a source of terrestrial gamma flashes and gamma bursts in lightning leader steps

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gurevich, A.V. [P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation)]. E-mail: alex@lpi.ru; Zybin, K.P. [P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation); Medvedev, Yu.V. [Joint Institute for High Temperature, Russian Academy of Sciences, 127412 Moscow (Russian Federation)

    2007-01-22

    The new model of lightning step leader is proposed. It includes three main processes developing simultaneously in a strong electric field: conventional breakdown, effect of runaway electrons and runaway breakdown (RB). The theory of RB in strong electric field is developed. Comparison with the existing observational data shows that the model can serve as a background for the explanation of gamma bursts in step leader and TGF.

  1. Runaway breakdown in strong electric field as a source of terrestrial gamma flashes and gamma bursts in lightning leader steps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gurevich, A.V.; Zybin, K.P.; Medvedev, Yu.V.

    2007-01-01

    The new model of lightning step leader is proposed. It includes three main processes developing simultaneously in a strong electric field: conventional breakdown, effect of runaway electrons and runaway breakdown (RB). The theory of RB in strong electric field is developed. Comparison with the existing observational data shows that the model can serve as a background for the explanation of gamma bursts in step leader and TGF

  2. Greening Existing Tribal Buildings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guidance about improving sustainability in existing tribal casinos and manufactured homes. Many steps can be taken to make existing buildings greener and healthier. They may also reduce utility and medical costs.

  3. How to Exist Politically and Learn from It: Hannah Arendt and the Problem of Democratic Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biesta, Gert

    2010-01-01

    Background/Context: In discussions about democratic education, there is a strong tendency to see the role of education as that of the preparation of children and young people for their future participation in democratic life. A major problem with this view is that it relies on the idea that the guarantee for democracy lies in the existence of a…

  4. Quasinormal Modes and Strong Cosmic Censorship

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardoso, Vitor; Costa, João L.; Destounis, Kyriakos; Hintz, Peter; Jansen, Aron

    2018-01-01

    The fate of Cauchy horizons, such as those found inside charged black holes, is intrinsically connected to the decay of small perturbations exterior to the event horizon. As such, the validity of the strong cosmic censorship (SCC) conjecture is tied to how effectively the exterior damps fluctuations. Here, we study massless scalar fields in the exterior of Reissner-Nordström-de Sitter black holes. Their decay rates are governed by quasinormal modes of the black hole. We identify three families of modes in these spacetimes: one directly linked to the photon sphere, well described by standard WKB-type tools; another family whose existence and time scale is closely related to the de Sitter horizon; finally, a third family which dominates for near-extremally charged black holes and which is also present in asymptotically flat spacetimes. The last two families of modes seem to have gone unnoticed in the literature. We give a detailed description of linear scalar perturbations of such black holes, and conjecture that SCC is violated in the near extremal regime.

  5. Requirements for existing buildings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thomsen, Kirsten Engelund; Wittchen, Kim Bjarne

    This report collects energy performance requirements for existing buildings in European member states by June 2012.......This report collects energy performance requirements for existing buildings in European member states by June 2012....

  6. Young Nearby Loose Associations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres, C. A. O.; Quast, G. R.; Melo, C. H. F.; Sterzik, M. F.

    2008-12-01

    A significant population of stars with ages younger than the Pleiades exists in the solar neighborhood. They are grouped in loose young associations, sharing similar kinematical and physical properties, but, due to their vicinity to the Sun, they are dispersed in the sky, and hard to identify. Their strong stellar coronal activity, causing enhanced X-ray emission, allows them to be identified as counterparts of X-ray sources. The analysis presented here is based mainly on the SACY project, aimed to survey in a systematic way counterparts of ROSAT all-sky X-ray sources in the Southern Hemisphere for which proper motions are known. We give the definition, main properties, and lists of high-probability members of nine confirmed loose young associations that do not belong directly to the well-known Oph-Sco-Cen complex. The youth and vicinity of many members of these new associations make them ideal targets for follow-up studies, specifically geared towards the understanding of planetary system formation. Searches for very low-mass and brown dwarf companions are ongoing, and it will be promising to search for planetary companions with next generation instruments.

  7. The Association of Arsenic Exposure and Arsenic Metabolism with the Metabolic Syndrome and its Individual Components: Prospective Evidence from the Strong Heart Family Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spratlen, Miranda J; Grau-Perez, Maria; Best, Lyle G; Yracheta, Joseph; Lazo, Mariana; Vaidya, Dhananjay; Balakrishnan, Poojitha; Gamble, Mary V; Francesconi, Kevin A; Goessler, Walter; Cole, Shelley A; Umans, Jason G; Howard, Barbara V; Navas-Acien, Ana

    2018-03-15

    Inorganic arsenic exposure is ubiquitous and both exposure and inter-individual differences in its metabolism have been associated with cardiometabolic risk. The association between arsenic exposure and arsenic metabolism with metabolic syndrome and its individual components, however, is relatively unknown. We used poisson regression with robust variance to evaluate the association between baseline arsenic exposure (urine arsenic levels) and metabolism (relative percentage of arsenic species over their sum) with incident metabolic syndrome and its individual components (elevated waist circumference, elevated triglycerides, reduced HDL, hypertension, elevated fasting plasma glucose) in 1,047 participants from the Strong Heart Family Study, a prospective family-based cohort in American Indian communities (baseline visits in 1998-1999 and 2001-2003, follow-up visits in 2001-2003 and 2006-2009). 32% of participants developed metabolic syndrome over follow-up. An IQR increase in arsenic exposure was associated with 1.19 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.41) greater risk for elevated fasting plasma glucose but not with other individual components or overall metabolic syndrome. Arsenic metabolism, specifically lower MMA% and higher DMA% was associated with higher risk of overall metabolic syndrome and elevated waist circumference, but not with any other component. These findings support there is a contrasting and independent association between arsenic exposure and arsenic metabolism with metabolic outcomes which may contribute to overall diabetes risk.

  8. Entropy excess in strongly correlated Fermi systems near a quantum critical point

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Clark, J.W., E-mail: jwc@wuphys.wustl.edu [McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences and Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130 (United States); Zverev, M.V. [Russian Research Centre Kurchatov Institute, Moscow, 123182 (Russian Federation); Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow, 123098 (Russian Federation); Khodel, V.A. [Russian Research Centre Kurchatov Institute, Moscow, 123182 (Russian Federation); McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences and Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130 (United States)

    2012-12-15

    A system of interacting, identical fermions described by standard Landau Fermi-liquid (FL) theory can experience a rearrangement of its Fermi surface if the correlations grow sufficiently strong, as occurs at a quantum critical point where the effective mass diverges. As yet, this phenomenon defies full understanding, but salient aspects of the non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) behavior observed beyond the quantum critical point are still accessible within the general framework of the Landau quasiparticle picture. Self-consistent solutions of the coupled Landau equations for the quasiparticle momentum distribution n(p) and quasiparticle energy spectrum {epsilon}(p) are shown to exist in two distinct classes, depending on coupling strength and on whether the quasiparticle interaction is regular or singular at zero momentum transfer. One class of solutions maintains the idempotency condition n{sup 2}(p)=n(p) of standard FL theory at zero temperature T while adding pockets to the Fermi surface. The other solutions are characterized by a swelling of the Fermi surface and a flattening of the spectrum {epsilon}(p) over a range of momenta in which the quasiparticle occupancies lie between 0 and 1 even at T=0. The latter, non-idempotent solution is revealed by analysis of a Poincare mapping associated with the fundamental Landau equation connecting n(p) and {epsilon}(p) and validated by solution of a variational condition that yields the symmetry-preserving ground state. Significantly, this extraordinary solution carries the burden of a large temperature-dependent excess entropy down to very low temperatures, threatening violation of the Nernst Theorem. It is argued that certain low-temperature phase transitions, notably those involving Cooper-pair formation, offer effective mechanisms for shedding the entropy excess. Available measurements in heavy-fermion compounds provide concrete support for such a scenario. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Extension of Landau

  9. A-FABP Concentration Is More Strongly Associated with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors and the Occurrence of Metabolic Syndrome in Premenopausal Than in Postmenopausal Middle-Aged Women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Stefanska

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available We aimed at the evaluation of the relationship between adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (A-FABP and cardiometabolic risk factors in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Additionally, we compared A-FABP with adipokines related to metabolic syndrome (MetS such as leptin and adiponectin. 94 premenopausal and 90 early postmenopausal middle-aged Caucasian women were subject to examinations. Postmenopausal women had higher A-FABP than premenopausal; this difference became insignificant after controlling for age. We found significantly higher correlation coefficients between A-FABP and TC/HDL-C ratio and number of MetS components in premenopausal women, compared to postmenopausal. Each 1 ng/dL increase in A-FABP concentration significantly increased the probability of occurrence of atherogenic lipid profile in premenopausal women, even after multivariate adjustment. All odds ratios became insignificant after controlling for BMI in postmenopausal women. A-FABP was more strongly associated with MetS than leptin and adiponectin in premenopausal women. Adiponectin concentration was a better biomarker for MetS after menopause. Our results suggest that the A-FABP is more strongly associated with some cardiometabolic risk factors in premenopausal than in postmenopausal women. Higher values of A-FABP after menopause are mainly explained by the fact that postmenopausal women are older. Because of the limitation of study, these results should be interpreted with caution.

  10. Realization and optical characterisation of micro-cavities in strong coupling regime using self-assembled multi-quantum wells structure of 2D perovskites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lanty, Gaetan

    2011-01-01

    The research work which is reported in this manuscript focuses on 2D perovskites and their use to obtain micro-cavities working in the strong coupling regime. Perovskite structure forms a multi-quantum wells in which the excitonic states have a high oscillator strength and a large binding energy (a few 100 MeV) due to quantum and dielectric confinement effects. A first axis of this work was to collect information on the excitonic properties of these materials. On a particular perovskite (PEPI), we performed photoluminescence and pump-probe measurements, which seem to suggest the existence, under high excitation density, a process of Auger recombination of excitons. A second research axis was to put in cavity thin layers of some perovskites. With PEPI and PEPC perovskites, we have shown that the realization of micro-cavities with a quality factor of the order of ten is sufficient to obtain at room temperature, the strong coupling regime in absorption and emission with Rabi splitting up to 220 MeV. A bottleneck effect has been clearly demonstrated for the PEPI microcavity. We have also shown that perovskites could be associated with inorganic semiconductors in 'hybrid' micro-cavities. According Agranovich et al., these micro-cavities could present polariton lasing with lower quality factors. To this end, the ZnO/MFMPB association seems particularly promising. (author)

  11. An evidence for the strong association of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone with some organic species in three Chinese bituminous coals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, C.M.; Zong, Z.M.; Jia, J.X.; Liu, G.F.; Wei, X.Y. [China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou (China). School for Chemical Engineering

    2008-04-15

    Three Chinese bituminous coals collected from Shenfu, Heidaigou and Feicheng coal fields were respectively extracted with carbon-disulfide/N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (CS{sub 2}/NMP) mixed solvent (volume ratio 1:1) at room temperature followed by distillation of CS{sub 2} under ambient pressure and subsequent removal of most of NMP by distillation at 110{sup o}C under reduced pressure to afford mixed solvent-extractable fractions (MSEFs) with small amount of NMP. Acetone-extractable fraction 1 (AEF1) was obtained by extracting each MSEF under ultrasonic irradiation at room temperature and subsequently using a Soxhlet extractor. Direct extraction of each bituminous coal affords acetone-soluble fraction 2 (AEF2). GC/MS analysis shows that mlz of base or secondary peak in mass spectra of a series of components from each AEF1 is 98, whereas such components were not detected in AEF2. Since m/z of base peak in mass spectrum of NMP itself is 99, the base or secondary peak at m/z 98 should result from loss of a-H from NMP, i.e., NMP is strongly associated with some organic species (OSs) and thereby the components detected with base or secodary peak at m/z 98 in their mass spectra should be associated NMP-OS.

  12. NetQuakes - A new approach to urban strong-motion seismology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luetgert, J. H.; Evans, J. R.; Hamilton, J.; Hutt, C. R.; Jensen, E. G.; Oppenheimer, D. H.

    2009-12-01

    There is a recognized need for more densely sampled strong ground motion recordings in urban areas to provide more accurate ShakeMaps for post-earthquake disaster assessment and to provide data for structural engineers to improve design standards. Ideally, the San Francisco Bay area would have a strong ground motion recorder every 1-2 km to adequately sample the region’s varied geology and built environment. This would require the addition of thousands of instruments to the existing network. There are several fiscal and logistical constraints that prevent us from doing this with traditional strong motion instrumentation and telemetry. In addition to the initial expense of instruments and their installation, there are the continuing costs of telemetry and maintenance. To address these issues, the USGS implemented the NetQuakes project to deploy small, relatively inexpensive seismographs for installation in 1-2 story homes and businesses that utilize the host’s existing Internet connection. The recorder has 18 bit resolution with ±3g internal tri-axial MEMS accelerometers. Data is continuously recorded at 200 sps into a 1-2 week ringbuffer. When triggered, a miniSEED file is sent to USGS servers via the Internet. Data can also be recovered from the ringbuffer by a remote request through the servers. Following a power failure, the instrument can run for 36 hours using its internal battery. All client-server interactions are initiated by the instrument, so it safely resides behind a host’s firewall. Instrument and battery replacement can be performed by hosts to reduce maintenance costs. A connection to the host’s LAN, and thence to the public Internet, can be made using WiFi to minimize cabling. Although timing via a cable to an external GPS antenna is possible, it is simpler to use the Network Time Protocol (NTP) to synchronize the internal clock. NTP achieves timing accuracy generally better than a sample interval. Since February, 2009, we have installed

  13. Abortion: Strong's counterexamples fail

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Di Nucci, Ezio

    2009-01-01

    This paper shows that the counterexamples proposed by Strong in 2008 in the Journal of Medical Ethics to Marquis's argument against abortion fail. Strong's basic idea is that there are cases--for example, terminally ill patients--where killing an adult human being is prima facie seriously morally...

  14. Study of the Higgs-Yukawa theory in the strong-Yukawa coupling regime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bulava, John; Gerhold, Philipp; Nagy, Attila; Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron; Hou, George W.S.; Smigielski, Brian; Jansen, Karl; Knippschild, Bastian; Univ. of Mainz; Lin, David C.J.; National Centre of Theoretical Sciences, Hsinchu; Nagai, Kei-Ichi; Ogawa, Kenji

    2011-12-01

    In this article, we present an ongoing lattice study of the Higgs-Yukawa model, in the regime of strong-Yukawa coupling, using overlap fermions. We investigated the phase structure in this regime by computing the Higgs vacuum expectation value, and by exploring the finite-size scaling behaviour of the susceptibility corresponding to the magnetisation. Our preliminary results indicate the existence of a second-order phase transition when the Yukawa coupling becomes large enough, at which the Higgs vacuum expectation value vanishes and the susceptibility diverges. (orig.)

  15. Beyond left and right: Automaticity and flexibility of number-space associations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antoine, Sophie; Gevers, Wim

    2016-02-01

    Close links exist between the processing of numbers and the processing of space: relatively small numbers are preferentially associated with a left-sided response while relatively large numbers are associated with a right-sided response (the SNARC effect). Previous work demonstrated that the SNARC effect is triggered in an automatic manner and is highly flexible. Besides the left-right dimension, numbers associate with other spatial response mappings such as close/far responses, where small numbers are associated with a close response and large numbers with a far response. In two experiments we investigate the nature of this association. Associations between magnitude and close/far responses were observed using a magnitude-irrelevant task (Experiment 1: automaticity) and using a variable referent task (Experiment 2: flexibility). While drawing a strong parallel between both response mappings, the present results are also informative with regard to the question about what type of processing mechanism underlies both the SNARC effect and the association between numerical magnitude and close/far response locations.

  16. Handedness and the fringe of consciousness: strong handers ruminate while mixed handers self-reflect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niebauer, Christopher Lee

    2004-12-01

    Previous research found that mixed handers (i.e., those that are more ambidextrous) were more likely than strong handers to update their beliefs (Niebauer, Aselage, & Schutte, 2002). It was assumed that this was due to greater degrees of communication between the two cerebral hemispheres in mixed handers. Niebauer and Garvey (2004) made connections between this model of updating beliefs and metacognitive processing. The current work proposes that variations in interhemispheric interaction (as measured by degree of handedness) contribute to differences in consciousness, specifically when consciousness is used in rumination versus the metacognitive task of self-reflection. Using the Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire (Trapnell & Campbell, 1999), predictions were supported such that strong handedness was associated with self-rumination; whereas, mixed handedness was associated with increased self-reflection p valuesmetacognition, updating beliefs, and self-reflection. Several studies are reviewed suggesting that mixed handers experience fringe consciousness to a greater degree than strong handers.

  17. Planning Annuaulised hours when spike in demand exists

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MR Sureshkumar

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Manpower planning using annualised hours is an effective tool where seasonal demand for staff in industry exists. In annualised hours (AH workers are contracted to work for a certain number of hours per year. The workers are associated with relative efficiency for different types of tasks. This paper proposes a Mixed Integer linear Programming (MILP model to solve an annualised working hours planning problem when spike in demand exists. The holiday weeks for the workers are considered as partially individualised. If a worker has been assigned with more than one type of working week in a week, this will be compensated with one or more holiday week. The performance of the model is demonstrated with an example. It can be seen that this type of modelling helps to meet the spikes in demand with less capacity shortage compared with one working week in a week.

  18. Heterozygosity and fitness: No strong association in Great Lakes populations of the zebra mussel, Dreissena Polymorpha (Pallas)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, K.M.; Feder, J.L.; Horvath, T.G.; Lamberti, G.A.

    2000-01-01

    A number of studies have found positive associations between allozyme heterozygosity and fitness surrogates (e.g., body size and growth rate) for marine molluscs. We investigated whether similar relationships exist for freshwater populations of the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha. Only one significant correlation between multi-locus heterozygosity and shell length was observed for a total of 22 D. polymorpha populations surveyed from midwestern U.S.A. lakes and streams, and the result was not significant on a table-wide basis. Meta-analysis revealed a significant common correlation coefficient (effect magnitude) between multi-locus heterozygosity and shell length across all 22 sites (rc = 0.052, P = 0.019, 1557 df). However, the variance in shell length explained by multi-locus heterozygosity was small (rc2 = 0.0027), implying a weak causal relationship if any. Also, we saw no relationship between heterozygosity and growth rate in a one-year field enclosure experiment. A significant heterozygosity-shell length correlation previously reported for a zebra mussel population at Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie, Ohio, may have been the product of unique population dynamics, rather than natural selection. Similar demographic considerations may contribute to inconsistencies in heterozygosity-fitness correlations seen for other molluscs.

  19. A many-particle adiabatic invariant of strongly magnetized pure electron plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hjorth, P.G.

    1988-01-01

    A pure electron plasma is said to be strongly magnetized if the cyclotron radius of the electrons is much smaller than the classical distance of closest approach. In this parameter regime a many-particle adiabatic invariant constrains the collisional dynamics. For the case of a uniform magnetic field, the adiabatic invariant is the total kinetic energy associated with the electron velocity components that are perpendicular to the magnetic field (i.e., Σ j mv 2 j perpendicular/2). Were the adiabatic invariant an exact constant of the motion, no exchange of energy would be possible between the parallel and the perpendicular degrees of freedom, and the plasma could develop and maintain two different temperatures T parallel and T perpendicular. An adiabatic invariant, however, is not strictly conserved. In the present case, each collision produces an exponentially small exchange of energy between the parallel and the perpendicular degrees of freedom, and these act cumulatively in such a way that T parallel and T perpendicular eventually relax to a common value. The rate of equilibrium is calculated, both in the case where the collisions are described by classical mechanics and in the case where the collisions are described by quantum mechanics, the two calculations giving essentially the same result. A molecular dynamics simulation has been carried out, verifying the existence of this unusual invariant, and verifying the theoretically predicted rate equation

  20. Socio-economic factors associated with infant mortality in Italy: an ecological study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dallolio, Laura; Di Gregori, Valentina; Lenzi, Jacopo; Franchino, Giuseppe; Calugi, Simona; Domenighetti, Gianfranco; Fantini, Maria Pia

    2012-08-16

    One issue that continues to attract the attention of public health researchers is the possible relationship in high-income countries between income, income inequality and infant mortality (IM). The aim of this study was to assess the associations between IM and major socio-economic determinants in Italy. Associations between infant mortality rates in the 20 Italian regions (2006-2008) and the Gini index of income inequality, mean household income, percentage of women with at least 8 years of education, and percentage of unemployed aged 15-64 years were assessed using Pearson correlation coefficients. Univariate linear regression and multiple stepwise linear regression analyses were performed to determine the magnitude and direction of the effect of the four socio-economic variables on IM. The Gini index and the total unemployment rate showed a positive strong correlation with IM (r = 0.70; p income showed a strong negative correlation (r = -0.78; p income country where health care is universally available, variations in IM were strongly associated with relative and absolute income and unemployment rate. These results suggest that in Italy IM is not only related to income distribution, as demonstrated for other developed countries, but also to economic factors such as absolute income and unemployment. In order to reduce IM and the existing inequalities, the challenge for Italian decision makers is to promote economic growth and enhance employment levels.

  1. 77 FR 16131 - Establishing a White House Council on Strong Cities, Strong Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-20

    ... Order 13602 of March 15, 2012 Establishing a White House Council on Strong Cities, Strong Communities By... enable them to develop and implement economic strategies to become more competitive, sustainable, and... resources to develop and implement their economic vision and strategies. Sec. 2. White House Council on...

  2. Instabilities in strongly coupled plasmas

    CERN Document Server

    Kalman, G J

    2003-01-01

    The conventional Vlasov treatment of beam-plasma instabilities is inappropriate when the plasma is strongly coupled. In the strongly coupled liquid state, the strong correlations between the dust grains fundamentally affect the conditions for instability. In the crystalline state, the inherent anisotropy couples the longitudinal and transverse polarizations, and results in unstable excitations in both polarizations. We summarize analyses of resonant and non-resonant, as well as resistive instabilities. We consider both ion-dust streaming and dust beam-plasma instabilities. Strong coupling, in general, leads to an enhancement of the growth rates. In the crystalline phase, a resonant transverse instability can be excited.

  3. High procedure volume is strongly associated with improved survival after lung cancer surgery

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lüchtenborg, Margreet; Riaz, Sharma P; Coupland, Victoria H

    2013-01-01

    Studies have reported an association between hospital volume and survival for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We explored this association in England, accounting for case mix and propensity to resect....

  4. Strongly interacting Fermi gases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bakr W.

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Strongly interacting gases of ultracold fermions have become an amazingly rich test-bed for many-body theories of fermionic matter. Here we present our recent experiments on these systems. Firstly, we discuss high-precision measurements on the thermodynamics of a strongly interacting Fermi gas across the superfluid transition. The onset of superfluidity is directly observed in the compressibility, the chemical potential, the entropy, and the heat capacity. Our measurements provide benchmarks for current many-body theories on strongly interacting fermions. Secondly, we have studied the evolution of fermion pairing from three to two dimensions in these gases, relating to the physics of layered superconductors. In the presence of p-wave interactions, Fermi gases are predicted to display toplogical superfluidity carrying Majorana edge states. Two possible avenues in this direction are discussed, our creation and direct observation of spin-orbit coupling in Fermi gases and the creation of fermionic molecules of 23Na 40K that will feature strong dipolar interactions in their absolute ground state.

  5. Groundwater-quality data associated with abandoned underground coal mine aquifers in West Virginia, 1973-2016: Compilation of existing data from multiple sources

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAdoo, Mitchell A.; Kozar, Mark D.

    2017-11-14

    This report describes a compilation of existing water-quality data associated with groundwater resources originating from abandoned underground coal mines in West Virginia. Data were compiled from multiple sources for the purpose of understanding the suitability of groundwater from abandoned underground coal mines for public supply, industrial, agricultural, and other uses. This compilation includes data collected for multiple individual studies conducted from July 13, 1973 through September 7, 2016. Analytical methods varied by the time period of data collection and requirements of the independent studies.This project identified 770 water-quality samples from 294 sites that could be attributed to abandoned underground coal mine aquifers originating from multiple coal seams in West Virginia.

  6. Quantum electrodynamics of strong fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Greiner, W.

    1983-01-01

    Quantum Electrodynamics of Strong Fields provides a broad survey of the theoretical and experimental work accomplished, presenting papers by a group of international researchers who have made significant contributions to this developing area. Exploring the quantum theory of strong fields, the volume focuses on the phase transition to a charged vacuum in strong electric fields. The contributors also discuss such related topics as QED at short distances, precision tests of QED, nonperturbative QCD and confinement, pion condensation, and strong gravitational fields In addition, the volume features a historical paper on the roots of quantum field theory in the history of quantum physics by noted researcher Friedrich Hund

  7. Quiescent H-mode plasmas with strong edge rotation in the cocurrent direction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burrell, K H; Osborne, T H; Snyder, P B; West, W P; Fenstermacher, M E; Groebner, R J; Gohil, P; Leonard, A W; Solomon, W M

    2009-04-17

    For the first time in any tokamak, quiescent H-mode (QH-mode) plasmas have been created with strong edge rotation in the direction of the plasma current. This confirms the theoretical prediction that the QH mode should exist with either sign of the edge rotation provided the magnitude of the shear in the edge rotation is sufficiently large and demonstrates that counterinjection and counteredge rotation are not essential for the QH mode. Accordingly, the present work demonstrates a substantial broadening of the QH-mode operating space and represents a significant confirmation of the theory.

  8. The spectrum of neutrophilic dermatoses associated with monoclonal gammopathy: Association with IgA isotype and inflammatory profile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szalat, Raphael; Monsel, Gentiane; Le Goff, Wilfried; Battistella, Maxime; Bengouffa, Djaouida; Schlageter, Marie-Helene; Bouaziz, Jean-David; Arnulf, Bertrand; Vignon, Marguerite; Lesnik, Philippe; Saussine, Anne; Malphettes, Marion; Lazareth, Anne; Vignon-Pennamen, Marie-Dominique; Bagot, Martine; Brouet, Jean-Claude; Fermand, Jean-Paul; Rybojad, Michel; Asli, Bouchra

    2015-11-01

    Neutrophilic dermatoses refer to a group of cutaneous inflammatory disorders characterized by neutrophilic infiltration of the skin. Neutrophilic dermatoses have been reported in association with various conditions including autoimmune diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, and neoplasia. In the later condition, myeloproliferative disorders and monoclonal gammopathy (monoclonal immunoglobulin [MIg]) are the most frequent. Only few data are available in case of neutrophilic dermatoses associated with MIg regarding the pathophysiology and the clinical outcome. We sought to gain further insight into clinical and biological aspects of neutrophilic dermatoses associated with MIg. We report a retrospective series of 26 patients with neutrophilic dermatoses associated with MIg focusing on clinical and biological aspects, with a study of a large panel of cytokines, chemokines, and adhesion molecules. This study reveals an association between MIg IgA isotype and neutrophilic dermatoses, and a specific inflammatory pattern including elevated interleukin 6, vascular endothelial growth factor, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, epidermal growth factor, and intercellular adhesion molecule-1. This is a retrospective study from a single institution with a limited number of participants. Our data highlight a strong association between IgA isotype and neutrophilic dermatoses, and the existence of a specific inflammatory profile involving several molecules. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Searching for flavor labels in food products: the influence of color-flavor congruence and association strength.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velasco, Carlos; Wan, Xiaoang; Knoeferle, Klemens; Zhou, Xi; Salgado-Montejo, Alejandro; Spence, Charles

    2015-01-01

    Prior research provides robust support for the existence of a number of associations between colors and flavors. In the present study, we examined whether congruent (vs. incongruent) combinations of product packaging colors and flavor labels would facilitate visual search for products labeled with specific flavors. The two experiments reported here document a Stroop-like effect between flavor words and packaging colors. The participants were able to search for packaging flavor labels more rapidly when the color of the packaging was congruent with the flavor label (e.g., red/tomato) than when it was incongruent (e.g., yellow/tomato). In addition, when the packaging color was incongruent, those flavor labels that were more strongly associated with a specific color yielded slower reaction times and more errors (Stroop interference) than those that were less strongly tied to a specific color. Importantly, search efficiency was affected both by color/flavor congruence and association strength. Taken together, these results therefore highlight the role of color congruence and color-word association strength when it comes to searching for specific flavor labels.

  10. Perceived school safety is strongly associated with adolescent mental health problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nijs, Miesje M; Bun, Clothilde J E; Tempelaar, Wanda M; de Wit, Niek J; Burger, Huibert; Plevier, Carolien M; Boks, Marco P M

    2014-02-01

    School environment is an important determinant of psychosocial function and may also be related to mental health. We therefore investigated whether perceived school safety, a simple measure of this environment, is related to mental health problems. In a population-based sample of 11,130 secondary school students, we analysed the relationship of perceived school safety with mental health problems using multiple logistic regression analyses to adjust for potential confounders. Mental health problems were defined using the clinical cut-off of the self-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. School safety showed an exposure-response relationship with mental health problems after adjustment for confounders. Odds ratios increased from 2.48 ("sometimes unsafe") to 8.05 ("very often unsafe"). The association was strongest in girls and young and middle-aged adolescents. Irrespective of the causal background of this association, school safety deserves attention either as a risk factor or as an indicator of mental health problems.

  11. Nonlinear neutrino-photon interactions inside strong laser pulses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meuren, Sebastian; Keitel, Christoph H.; Di Piazza, Antonino [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)

    2016-07-01

    As different neutrino mass eigenstates exist, only the lightest neutrino is absolutely stable. However, due to the small phase space and the GIM suppression mechanism the radiative neutrino lifetime is much larger than the age of the universe. Interestingly, the photon-emission probability by a neutrino is drastically increased in the presence of an external background field. Therefore, it is natural to ask the question whether this so-called ''electromagnetic catalysis'' could be studied in an laboratory experiment using existing and upcoming laser facilities. To shed light on this question, we derive the vector-axialvector coupling tensor in the presence of an arbitrary plane-wave background field, which is needed for the calculation of the radiative neutrino decay. Furthermore, we study the Adler-Bell-Jackiw anomaly associated with this object in detail.

  12. CLEO-c and CESR-c: A new frontier in strong and weak interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richichi, Stephen J.

    2003-06-01

    We report on the physics potential of a charm and QCD factory, based on a proposal for the conversion of the existing CESR machine and CLEO detector: "CESR-c and OLEO-c". Such a facility will make major contributions to the field of quark flavor physics in this decade. It may also provide the best chance for understanding non-perturbative QCD, which is essential to understanding the strongly-coupled sectors of the new physics that lies beyond the Standard Model.

  13. CLEO-c and CESR-c: A new frontier in strong and weak interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Richichi, Stephen J.

    2003-01-01

    We report on the physics potential of a charm and QCD factory, based on a proposal for the conversion of the existing CESR machine and CLEO detector: ''CESR-c and OLEO-c''. Such a facility will make major contributions to the field of quark flavor physics in this decade. It may also provide the best chance for understanding non-perturbative QCD, which is essential to understanding the strongly-coupled sectors of the new physics that lies beyond the Standard Model

  14. Note on the hydrodynamic description of thin nematic films: Strong anchoring model

    KAUST Repository

    Lin, Te-Sheng; Cummings, Linda J.; Archer, Andrew J.; Kondic, Lou; Thiele, Uwe

    2013-01-01

    We discuss the long-wave hydrodynamic model for a thin film of nematic liquid crystal in the limit of strong anchoring at the free surface and at the substrate. We rigorously clarify how the elastic energy enters the evolution equation for the film thickness in order to provide a solid basis for further investigation: several conflicting models exist in the literature that predict qualitatively different behaviour. We consolidate the various approaches and show that the long-wave model derived through an asymptotic expansion of the full nemato-hydrodynamic equations with consistent boundary conditions agrees with the model one obtains by employing a thermodynamically motivated gradient dynamics formulation based on an underlying free energy functional. As a result, we find that in the case of strong anchoring the elastic distortion energy is always stabilising. To support the discussion in the main part of the paper, an appendix gives the full derivation of the evolution equation for the film thickness via asymptotic expansion. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

  15. Existence and controllability results for damped second order impulsive functional differential systems with state-dependent delay

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Mallika Arjunan

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate the existence and controllability of mild solutions for a damped second order impulsive functional differential equation with state-dependent delay in Banach spaces. The results are obtained by using Sadovskii's fixed point theorem combined with the theories of a strongly continuous cosine family of bounded linear operators. Finally, an example is provided to illustrate the main results.

  16. Strong-coupling theory of superconductivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rainer, D.; Sauls, J.A.

    1995-01-01

    The electronic properties of correlated metals with a strong electron-phonon coupling may be understood in terms of a combination of Landau''s Fermi liquid theory and the strong-coupling theory of Migdal and Eliashberg. In these lecture notes we discuss the microscopic foundations of this phenomenological Fermi-liquid model of correlated, strong-coupling metals. We formulate the basic equations of the model, which are quasiclassical transport equations that describe both equilibrium and non-equilibrium phenomena for the normal and superconducting states of a metal. Our emphasis is on superconductors close to equilibrium, for which we derive the general linear response theory. As an application we calculate the dynamical conductivity of strong-coupling superconductors. (author)

  17. Understanding adults’ strong problem-solving skills based on PIAAC

    OpenAIRE

    Hämäläinen, Raija; De Wever, Bram; Nissinen, Kari; Cincinnato, Sebastiano

    2017-01-01

    Purpose Research has shown that the problem-solving skills of adults with a vocational education and training (VET) background in technology-rich environments (TREs) are often inadequate. However, some adults with a VET background do have sound problem-solving skills. The present study aims to provide insight into the socio-demographic, work-related and everyday life factors that are associated with a strong problem-solving performance. Design/methodology/approach The study builds...

  18. Strong Bisimilarity of Simple Process Algebras

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Srba, Jirí

    2003-01-01

    We study bisimilarity and regularity problems of simple process algebras. In particular, we show PSPACE-hardness of the following problems: (i) strong bisimilarity of Basic Parallel Processes (BPP), (ii) strong bisimilarity of Basic Process Algebra (BPA), (iii) strong regularity of BPP, and (iv......) strong regularity of BPA. We also demonstrate NL-hardness of strong regularity problems for the normed subclasses of BPP and BPA. Bisimilarity problems of simple process algebras are introduced in a general framework of process rewrite systems, and a uniform description of the new techniques used...

  19. Estimation of marginal costs at existing waste treatment facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinez-Sanchez, Veronica; Hulgaard, Tore; Hindsgaul, Claus; Riber, Christian; Kamuk, Bettina; Astrup, Thomas F

    2016-04-01

    address and include costs in existing waste facilities in decision-making may unintendedly lead to higher overall costs at societal level. To avoid misleading conclusions, economic assessment of alternative SWM solutions should not only consider potential costs associated with alternative treatment but also include marginal costs associated with existing facilities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. The use of lifetime functions in the optimization of interventions on existing bridges considering maintenance and failure costs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Seung-Ie [Department of Civil, Enviromental, and Architectural Enginnering, University of Colorado, Campus Box 428, Boulder, CO 80309-0428 (United States)]. E-mail: yangsione@dreamwiz.com; Frangopol, Dan M. [Department of Civil, Enviromental, and Architectural Enginnering, University of Colorado, Campus Box 428, Boulder, CO 80309-0428 (United States)]. E-mail: dan.frangopol@colorado.edu; Kawakami, Yoriko [Hanshin Expressway Public Corporation, Kobe Maintenance Department, 16-1 Shinko-cho Chuo-ku Kobe City, Hyogo, 650-0041 (Japan)]. E-mail: yoriko-kawakami@hepc.go.jp; Neves, Luis C. [Department of Civil, Enviromental, and Architectural Enginnering, University of Colorado, Campus Box 428, Boulder, CO 80309-0428 (United States)]. E-mail: lneves@civil.uminho.pt

    2006-06-15

    In the last decade, it became clear that life-cycle cost analysis of existing civil infrastructure must be used to optimally manage the growing number of aging and deteriorating structures. The uncertainties associated with deteriorating structures require the use of probabilistic methods to properly evaluate their lifetime performance. In this paper, the deterioration and the effect of maintenance actions are analyzed considering the performance of existing structures characterized by lifetime functions. These functions allow, in a simple manner, the consideration of the effect of aging on the decrease of the probability of survival of a structure, as well as the effect of maintenance actions. Models for the effects of proactive and reactive preventive maintenance, and essential maintenance actions are presented. Since the probability of failure is different from zero during the entire service life of a deteriorating structure and depends strongly on the maintenance strategy, the cost of failure is included in this analysis. The failure of one component in a structure does not usually lead to failure of the structure and, as a result, the safety of existing structures must be analyzed using a system reliability framework. The optimization consists of minimizing the sum of the cumulative maintenance and expected failure cost during the prescribed time horizon. Two examples of application of the proposed methodology are presented. In the first example, the sum of the maintenance and failure costs of a bridge in Colorado is minimized considering essential maintenance only and a fixed minimum acceptable probability of failure. In the second example, the expected lifetime cost, including maintenance and expected failure costs, of a multi-girder bridge is minimized considering reactive preventive maintenance actions.

  1. Pre-existing weakness is critical for the occurrence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction in mice of the same age.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yujie Tang

    Full Text Available Occurrence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD is age-dependent and heterogenous. Factors deciding the occurrence of POCD in patients of the same age undergone same surgeries remain unclear. Here we investigated the effects of pre-existing weakness on the occurrence of POCD in mice of the same age. Pre-existing weakness of mice was induced by intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (8mg/kg and was evaluated by physical frailty index (by open field test, neuroinflammation level (by Iba1 immunostaining and inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-1β, and neuronal activity (by p-CREB immunostaining. POCD was induced by partial hepatolobectomy and was evaluated by puzzle box test and Morris water maze test. The brains were collected to detect the levels of neuroinflammation, synaptophysin and NMDA receptor subunits NR2A, NR2B and NR1 (by western blot, and oxidative stress (by Dihydroethidium. Compared to the normal adult mice of the same age, LPS pretreated mice had increased physical frailty index, higher levels of neuroinflammation, and lower neuronal activity. Partial hepatolobectomy induced obvious impairments in executive function, learning and memory in LPS pretreated mice after surgery, but not in normal mice of the same age. Partial hepatolobectomy also induced heightened neuroinflammation, obvious loss of NMDA receptor subunits, strong oxidative stress in LPS pretreated mice on the 1st and 3rd postoperative day. However, the POCD-associated pathological changes didn't occur in normal mice of the same age after surgery. These results suggest that pre-existing weakness is critical for the occurrence of POCD in mice of the same age.

  2. The use of lifetime functions in the optimization of interventions on existing bridges considering maintenance and failure costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Seung-Ie; Frangopol, Dan M.; Kawakami, Yoriko; Neves, Luis C.

    2006-01-01

    In the last decade, it became clear that life-cycle cost analysis of existing civil infrastructure must be used to optimally manage the growing number of aging and deteriorating structures. The uncertainties associated with deteriorating structures require the use of probabilistic methods to properly evaluate their lifetime performance. In this paper, the deterioration and the effect of maintenance actions are analyzed considering the performance of existing structures characterized by lifetime functions. These functions allow, in a simple manner, the consideration of the effect of aging on the decrease of the probability of survival of a structure, as well as the effect of maintenance actions. Models for the effects of proactive and reactive preventive maintenance, and essential maintenance actions are presented. Since the probability of failure is different from zero during the entire service life of a deteriorating structure and depends strongly on the maintenance strategy, the cost of failure is included in this analysis. The failure of one component in a structure does not usually lead to failure of the structure and, as a result, the safety of existing structures must be analyzed using a system reliability framework. The optimization consists of minimizing the sum of the cumulative maintenance and expected failure cost during the prescribed time horizon. Two examples of application of the proposed methodology are presented. In the first example, the sum of the maintenance and failure costs of a bridge in Colorado is minimized considering essential maintenance only and a fixed minimum acceptable probability of failure. In the second example, the expected lifetime cost, including maintenance and expected failure costs, of a multi-girder bridge is minimized considering reactive preventive maintenance actions

  3. Weak and strong chaos in Fermi-Pasta-Ulam models and beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pettini, Marco; Casetti, Lapo; Cerruti-Sola, Monica; Franzosi, Roberto; Cohen, E. G. D.

    2005-03-01

    We briefly review some of the most relevant results that our group obtained in the past, while investigating the dynamics of the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) models. The first result is the numerical evidence of the existence of two different kinds of transitions in the dynamics of the FPU models: (i) A stochasticity threshold (ST), characterized by a value of the energy per degree of freedom below which the overwhelming majority of the phase space trajectories are regular (vanishing Lyapunov exponents). It tends to vanish as the number N of degrees of freedom is increased. (ii) A strong stochasticity threshold (SST), characterized by a value of the energy per degree of freedom at which a crossover appears between two different power laws of the energy dependence of the largest Lyapunov exponent, which phenomenologically corresponds to the transition between weak and strong chaotic regimes. It is stable with N. The second result is the development of a Riemannian geometric theory to explain the origin of Hamiltonian chaos. Starting this theory has been motivated by the inadequacy of the approach based on homoclinic intersections to explain the origin of chaos in systems of arbitrarily large N, or arbitrarily far from quasi-integrability, or displaying a transition between weak and strong chaos. Finally, the third result stems from the search for the transition between weak and strong chaos in systems other than FPU. Actually, we found that a very sharp SST appears as the dynamical counterpart of a thermodynamic phase transition, which in turn has led, in the light of the Riemannian theory of chaos, to the development of a topological theory of phase transitions.

  4. Strong cosmic censorship and the strong curvature singularities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krolak, A.

    1987-01-01

    Conditions are given under which any asymptotically simple and empty space-time that has a partial Cauchy surface with an asymptotically simple past is globally hyperbolic. It is shown that this result suggests that the Cauchy horizons of the type occurring in Reissner--Nordstroem and Kerr space-times are unstable. This in turn gives support for the validity of the strong cosmic censorship hypothesis

  5. Electromotive force in strongly compressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yokoi, N.

    2017-12-01

    Variable density fluid turbulence is ubiquitous in geo-fluids, not to mention in astrophysics. Depending on the source of density variation, variable density fluid turbulence may be divided into two categories: the weak compressible (entropy mode) turbulence for slow flow and the strong compressible (acoustic mode) turbulence for fast flow. In the strong compressible turbulence, the pressure fluctuation induces a strong density fluctuation ρ ', which is represented by the density variance ( denotes the ensemble average). The turbulent effect on the large-scale magnetic-field B induction is represented by the turbulent electromotive force (EMF) (u': velocity fluctuation, b': magnetic-field fluctuation). In the usual treatment in the dynamo theory, the expression for the EMF has been obtained in the framework of incompressible or weak compressible turbulence, where only the variation of the mean density , if any, is taken into account. We see from the equation of the density fluctuation ρ', the density variance is generated by the large mean density variation ∂ coupled with the turbulent mass flux . This means that in the region where the mean density steeply changes, the density variance effect becomes relevant for the magnetic field evolution. This situation is typically the case for phenomena associated with shocks and compositional discontinuities. With the aid of the analytical theory of inhomogeneous compressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence, the expression for the turbulent electromotive force is investigated. It is shown that, among others, an obliqueness (misalignment) between the mean density gradient ∂ and the mean magnetic field B may contribute to the EMF as ≈χ B×∂ with the turbulent transport coefficient χ proportional to the density variance (χ ). This density variance effect is expected to strongly affect the EMF near the interface, and changes the transport properties of turbulence. In the case of an interface under the MHD slow

  6. Interaction of a strong vortex with decaying turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Terry, P.W.

    1988-01-01

    The evolution of a localized, axially symmetric vortex under the action of shear stresses associated with decaying two-dimensional turbulent vorticity which is inhomogeneous in the presence of the vortex is studied analytically. For a vortex which is sufficiently strong relative to the coefficient of turbulent eddy viscosity, it is shown that turbulent fluctuations in the vortex interior and diffusion of coherent vorticity by the turbulence localize to the vortex periphery. It is also found that the coefficient of diffusion is small compared to the coefficient of eddy viscosity. 8 refs

  7. Numerical Calculation of the Phase Space Density for the Strong-Strong Beam-Beam Interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sobol, A.; Ellison, J.A.

    2003-01-01

    We developed a parallel code to calculate the evolution of the 4D phase space density of two colliding beams, which are coupled via the collective strong-strong beam-beam interaction, in the absence of diffusion and damping, using the Perron-Frobenius (PF) operator technique

  8. How Well Can Existing Software Support Processes Accomplish Sustainment of a Non-Developmental Item-Based Acquisition Strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-04-06

    guidance to the PM regarding development and sustainment of software . The need for a strong application of software engineering principles is...on the battlefield by a government- developed network manager application . The configuration of this confluence of software will be jointly managed...How Well Can Existing Software -Support Processes Accomplish Sustainment of a Non- Developmental Item-Based Acquisition Strategy? Graciano

  9. Three-Dimensional Hermite—Bessel—Gaussian Soliton Clusters in Strongly Nonlocal Media

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jin Hai-Qin; Yi Lin; Liang Jian-Chu; Cai Ze-Bin; Liu Fei

    2012-01-01

    We analytically and numerically demonstrate the existence of Hermite—Bessel—Gaussian spatial soliton clusters in three-dimensional strongly nonlocal media. It is found that the soliton clusters display the vortex, dipole azimuthon and quadrupole azimuthon in geometry, and the total number of solitons in the necklaces depends on the quantum number n and m of the Hermite functions and generalized Bessel polynomials. The numerical simulation is basically identical to the analytical solution, and white noise does not lead to collapse of the soliton, which confirms the stability of the soliton waves. The theoretical predictions may give new insights into low-energetic spatial soliton transmission with high fidelity

  10. Working with MRI: An investigation of occupational exposure to strong static magnetic fields and associated symptoms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schaap, K.

    2015-01-01

    Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) makes use of electromagnetic fields in the non-ionizing radiation frequency ranges. One of them is a continuously present strong static magnetic field (SMF), which extends up to several meters around the scanner. Each time an MRI worker performs tasks near the

  11. Existence theory in optimal control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olech, C.

    1976-01-01

    This paper treats the existence problem in two main cases. One case is that of linear systems when existence is based on closedness or compactness of the reachable set and the other, non-linear case refers to a situation where for the existence of optimal solutions closedness of the set of admissible solutions is needed. Some results from convex analysis are included in the paper. (author)

  12. Cystic neutrophilic granulomatous mastitis: an underappreciated pattern strongly associated with gram-positive bacilli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renshaw, Andrew A; Derhagopian, Robert P; Gould, Edwin W

    2011-09-01

    Although granulomatous lobular mastitis is associated with gram-positive bacilli such as Corynebacterium, this association is not well known. We report 3 cases of mastitis caused by gram-positive bacilli. All 3 abscesses were suppurative with distinct enlarged cystic spaces in which rare gram-positive bacilli were identified. Two cases were also granulomatous. Cultures in all 3 cases were negative. All 3 patients recovered after biopsy and tetracycline-based therapy. Infection in the breast by gram-positive bacilli is associated with a distinct histologic pattern, including cystic spaces in the setting of neutrophilic/granulomatous inflammation that can be recognized and should prompt careful search for the organism within enlarged vacuoles.

  13. CLEO-c and CESR-c: A new frontier in strong and weak interactions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Richichi, Stephen J

    2003-06-01

    We report on the physics potential of a charm and QCD factory, based on a proposal for the conversion of the existing CESR machine and CLEO detector: ''CESR-c and OLEO-c''. Such a facility will make major contributions to the field of quark flavor physics in this decade. It may also provide the best chance for understanding non-perturbative QCD, which is essential to understanding the strongly-coupled sectors of the new physics that lies beyond the Standard Model.

  14. A meta-analysis of drug resistant tuberculosis in Sub-Saharan Africa: how strongly associated with previous treatment and HIV co-infection?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berhan, Asres; Berhan, Yifru; Yizengaw, Desalegn

    2013-11-01

    In Sub-Saharan Africa, the fight against tuberculosis (TB) has encountered a great challenge because of the emergence of drug resistant TB strains and the high prevalence of HIV infection. The aim of this meta-analysis was to determine the association of drug-resistant TB with anti-TB drug treatment history and HIV co-infection. After electronic based literature search in the databases of Medline, HINARI, EMBASE and the Cochrane library, article selection and data extraction were carried out. HIV co-infection and previous history of TB treatment were used as predictors for the occurrence of any anti-TB drug resistant or multiple drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). The risk ratios for each included study and for the pooled sample were computed using the random-effects model. Heterogeneity test, sensitivity analyses and funnel plots were also done. The pooled analysis showed that the risk of developing drug-resistant TB to at least one anti-TB drug was about 3 times higher in individuals who had a previous history of anti-TB treatment than new TB cases. The risk of having MDR-TB in previously anti-TB treated TB cases was more than 5-fold higher than that of new TB cases. Resistance to Ethambutol and Rifampicin was more than fivefold higher among the previously treated with anti-TB drugs. However, HIV infection was not associated with drug-resistant TB. There was a strong association of previous anti-TB treatment with MDR-TB. Primary treatment warrants special emphasis, and screening for anti-TB drugs sensitivity has to be strengthened.

  15. Height and sex is strongly associated with radial augmentation index in Korean patients with never-treated hypertension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahn KT

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Kye Taek Ahn, Kwang-In Park, Mi Joo Kim, Jin Kyung Oh, Ji Hye Han, Hee Jin Kwon, Seon-Ah Jin, Jun-Hyung Kim, Jae-Hyeong Park, Jae-Hwan Lee, Si Wan Choi, In-Whan Seong, Jin-Ok Jeong Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Chungnam National University Hospital, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of Korea Objectives: Central hemodynamics may better represent the load imposed on the coronary and cerebral arteries and thereby bear a stronger relationship to cardiovascular outcomes. Methods: Patients who had confirmed hypertension as assessed by daytime 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (≥135/85 mmHg were enrolled. Central blood pressure and radial augmentation index (AIx corrected for a heart rate of 75 bpm (radial AIx 75 were measured for all patients. We evaluated the association of age, height, and sex with central hemodynamics in patients with never-treated hypertension. Results: A total of 203 patients were enrolled, of whom men numbered 101 (49.7%. The median height of all patients was 162 cm, and mean age was 53.2 years. In the Pearson correlation analysis, regardless of sex difference (R=-0.627 for height, R=0.035 for age, P-value =0.005, a stronger relationship was observed between height and radial AIx 75 than between age and radial AIx 75. In the multiple regression analysis, the sex difference and height were strongly associated with elevated radial AIx 75 in all patients (adjusted R2=0.428, β=6.237, 95% confidence interval [CI] for women 1.480–10.995, P-value =0.011 and β=-0.632, 95% CI for height -0.929 to -0.335, P-value =0.009, respectively. Conclusion: In patients with never-treated hypertension, female sex and shorter height are the important risk factors of elevated radial AIx 75. Keywords: hypertension, augmentation index, height, sex

  16. Strong association of 677 C>T substitution in the MTHFR gene with male infertility--a study on an indian population and a meta-analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nishi Gupta

    Full Text Available Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR is an important enzyme of folate and methionine metabolism, making it crucial for DNA synthesis and methylation. The objective of this study was to analyze MTHFR gene 677C>T polymorphism in infertile male individuals from North India, followed by a meta-analysis on our data and published studies.We undertook genotyping on a total of 837 individuals including well characterized infertile (N = 522 and confirmed fertile (N = 315 individuals. The SNP was typed by direct DNA sequencing. Chi square test was done for statistical analysis. Published studies were searched using appropriate keywords. Source of data collection for meta-analysis included 'Pubmed', 'Ovid' and 'Google Scholar'. Those studies analyzing 677C>T polymorphism in male infertility and presenting all relevant data were included in meta-analysis. The genotype data for infertile subjects and fertile controls was extracted from each study. Chi square test was done to obtain odds ratio (OR and p-value. Meta-analysis was performed using Comprehensive Meta-analysis software (Version 2. The frequency of mutant (T allele (p = 0.0025 and genotypes (CT+TT (p = 0.0187 was significantly higher in infertile individuals in comparison to fertile controls in our case-control study. The overall summary estimate (OR for allele and genotype meta-analysis were 1.304 (p = 0.000, 1.310 (p = 0.000, respectively, establishing significant association of 677C>T polymorphism with male infertility.677C>T substitution associated strongly with male infertility in Indian population. Allele and genotype meta-analysis also supported its strong correlation with male infertility, thus establishing it as a risk factor.

  17. Radiation, photon orbits, and torsion in strongly curved spacetimes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sandberg, V.D.

    1975-01-01

    Four topics on the strong field aspects of general relativity are presented. These are the role of constraining forces for ultrarelativistic particle motion as a source of gravitational radiation, the study of electromagnetic radiation due to space-time oscillations, the light scattering properties of a class of naked singularities, and the relation of gravitation theories with torsion to general relativity. The astrophysical implications and unusual physical phenomena associated with very intense gravitational fields are discussed for these four topics

  18. 10 CFR 4.127 - Existing facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Existing facilities. 4.127 Section 4.127 Energy NUCLEAR... 1973, as Amended Discriminatory Practices § 4.127 Existing facilities. (a) Accessibility. A recipient... make each of its existing facilities or every part of an existing facility accessible to and usable by...

  19. Strongly coupled models at the LHC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vries, Maikel de

    2014-10-01

    physics and direct searches at the LHC. These tests provide stringent limits on f and the parameter space is slowly driven into the TeV range. Furthermore, a strategy on how to optimise present supersymmetry searches for the Littlest Higgs model with T-parity is presented, with the goal to improve the constraints and yield more stringent limits on f. Finally, the robustness of translating effective operator constraints to beyond the Standard Model (BSM) theories is treated and turns out to crucially depend on the mass and coupling of BSM particles. This is especially relevant for hadron colliders where the partonic centre of mass energy is around the typical energy scales of natural BSM theories. The caveats in applying limits from effective operators are discussed using Z' and G' models, illustrating the effects for a large class of models. This analysis shows that the applicability of effective operators mainly depends on the ratio of the transfer energy in the events and the mass scale of the full theory. Moreover, based on these results a method is developed to recast existing experimental limits on effective operators to the full theory parameter space. It is concluded that strongly coupled models of electroweak symmetry breaking are still natural and compatible with LHC results. Moreover, these types of models provide new and interesting final state topologies for experimental searches at the LHC. For the high energy runs of the LHC these new searches will prove useful in determining the faith of composite models and maybe thereby the origin of electroweak symmetry breaking.

  20. Strongly coupled band in {sup 140}Gd

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Falla-Sotelo, F.; Oliveira, J.R.B.; Rao, M.N. [Instituto de Fisica, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo (Brazil)] (and others)

    2005-07-01

    Several high-K states are known to exist in the mass 130-140 region. For the N=74 even-even isotopes, K{pi} = 8{sup -} isomers, with lifetimes ranging from ns to ms, are known in {sup 128}Xe, {sup 130}Ba, {sup 132}Ce, {sup 134}Nd, {sup 136}Sm, and {sup 138}Gd[. In {sup 140}Gd, we have observed for the first time a band also based on an I{pi} = 8{sup -} state. This could be the first case of a K{pi} = 8{sup -} state observed in an N=76 even-even isotope. The systematics of the K{pi} = 8{sup -} isomeric states in N=74 isotopes has been studied by A.M. Bruce et al. These states decay towards the K = 0 ground state band, and the transitions are K-forbidden. The {sup 140}Gd case presents strong similarities but also some significant differences with relation to the N=74 isotopes. We propose the same configuration but with larger deformation in {sup 140}Gd.

  1. Evolutionary dynamics of fluctuating populations with strong mutualism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chotibut, Thiparat; Nelson, David

    2013-03-01

    Evolutionary game theory with finite interacting populations is receiving increased attention, including subtle phenomena associated with number fluctuations, i.e., ``genetic drift.'' Models of cooperation and competition often utilize a simplified Moran model, with a strictly fixed total population size. We explore a more general evolutionary model with independent fluctuations in the numbers of two distinct species, in a regime characterized by ``strong mutualism.'' The model has two absorbing states, each corresponding to fixation of one of the two species, and allows exploration of the interplay between growth, competition, and mutualism. When mutualism is favored, number fluctuations eventually drive the system away from a stable fixed point, characterized by cooperation, to one of the absorbing states. Well-mixed populations will thus be taken over by a single species in a finite time, despite the bias towards cooperation. We calculate both the fixation probability and the mean fixation time as a function of the initial conditions and carrying capacities in the strong mutualism regime, using the method of matched asymptotic expansions. Our results are compared to computer simulations.

  2. Strong gravity and supersymmetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chamseddine, Ali H.; Salam, A.; Strathdee, J.

    1977-11-01

    A supersymmetric theory is constructed for a strong f plus a weak g graviton, together with their accompanying massive gravitinos, by gaugin the gradel 0Sp(2,2,1)x 0Sp(2,2,1) structure. The mixing term between f and g fields, which makes the strong graviton massive, can be introduced through a spontaneous symmetry-breaking mechanism implemented in this note by constructing a non-linear realization of the symmetry group

  3. A scenario for inflationary magnetogenesis without strong coupling problem

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tasinato, Gianmassimo [Department of Physics, Swansea University,Swansea, SA2 8PP (United Kingdom); Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth,Portsmouth, PO1 3FX (United Kingdom)

    2015-03-23

    Cosmological magnetic fields pervade the entire universe, from small to large scales. Since they apparently extend into the intergalactic medium, it is tantalizing to believe that they have a primordial origin, possibly being produced during inflation. However, finding consistent scenarios for inflationary magnetogenesis is a challenging theoretical problem. The requirements to avoid an excessive production of electromagnetic energy, and to avoid entering a strong coupling regime characterized by large values for the electromagnetic coupling constant, typically allow one to generate only a tiny amplitude of magnetic field during inflation. We propose a scenario for building gauge-invariant models of inflationary magnetogenesis potentially free from these issues. The idea is to derivatively couple a dynamical scalar, not necessarily the inflaton, to fermionic and electromagnetic fields during the inflationary era. Such couplings give additional freedom to control the time-dependence of the electromagnetic coupling constant during inflation. This fact allows us to find conditions to avoid the strong coupling problems that affect many of the existing models of magnetogenesis. We do not need to rely on a particular inflationary set-up for developing our scenario, that might be applied to different realizations of inflation. On the other hand, specific requirements have to be imposed on the dynamics of the scalar derivatively coupled to fermions and electromagnetism, that we are able to satisfy in an explicit realization of our proposal.

  4. A scenario for inflationary magnetogenesis without strong coupling problem

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tasinato, Gianmassimo, E-mail: gianmassimo.tasinato@port.ac.uk [Department of Physics, Swansea University, Swansea, SA2 8PP U.K. (United Kingdom)

    2015-03-01

    Cosmological magnetic fields pervade the entire universe, from small to large scales. Since they apparently extend into the intergalactic medium, it is tantalizing to believe that they have a primordial origin, possibly being produced during inflation. However, finding consistent scenarios for inflationary magnetogenesis is a challenging theoretical problem. The requirements to avoid an excessive production of electromagnetic energy, and to avoid entering a strong coupling regime characterized by large values for the electromagnetic coupling constant, typically allow one to generate only a tiny amplitude of magnetic field during inflation. We propose a scenario for building gauge-invariant models of inflationary magnetogenesis potentially free from these issues. The idea is to derivatively couple a dynamical scalar, not necessarily the inflaton, to fermionic and electromagnetic fields during the inflationary era. Such couplings give additional freedom to control the time-dependence of the electromagnetic coupling constant during inflation. This fact allows us to find conditions to avoid the strong coupling problems that affect many of the existing models of magnetogenesis. We do not need to rely on a particular inflationary set-up for developing our scenario, that might be applied to different realizations of inflation. On the other hand, specific requirements have to be imposed on the dynamics of the scalar derivatively coupled to fermions and electromagnetism, that we are able to satisfy in an explicit realization of our proposal.

  5. Strong association between a splice mutation (IVS12+5G{r_arrow}A) and haplotype 6 in hereditary tyrosinemia type I

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tanguay, R.M.; St-Louis, M.; Gibson, K. [Universite Laval, Ste-Foy (Canada)] [and others

    1994-09-01

    Hereditary tyrosinemia type I (HT I; McKusick 276700) is a severe inborn error of tyrosine catabolism pathway caused by a deficiency of fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase (FAH). The highest frequency reported is the one in Saguenay-Lac St-Jean (Quebec, Canada) where 1:1,846 births are affected. The FAH gene has been cloned and several mutations have been described. Allele specific oligonucleotide (ASO) hybridization was used to examine the frequency of a splice (IVS12-5G{r_arrow}A) mutation recently reported and RFLP analysis was done to identify haplotypes related to HT I. The splice mutation was found on 45/50 alleles (90%) in patients from SLSJ and 12/66 (18%) alleles from patients world-wide. All 25 patients from the SLSJ region were positive with 20 being homozygous, indicating that this mutation is the major cause of HT I in French Canada. Of these 25 patients, 96% were positive for one haplotype called no 6 which is these 25 patients, 96% were positive for one haplotype called no 6 which is identified by TaqI, RsaI, BglII, MspI and KpnI digestions. These data show a really strong association between the mutation (IVS12+5G{r_arrow}A) and haplotype 6. Among our patients from around the world, {approximately}52% were positive for haplotype 6 indicating its strong relation with HT I. These results provide the rationale for DNA-based carrier testing for HT I in the F-C population at risk as well as in HT I patients in general.

  6. PREFACE: Strongly correlated electron systems Strongly correlated electron systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saxena, Siddharth S.; Littlewood, P. B.

    2012-07-01

    This special section is dedicated to the Strongly Correlated Electron Systems Conference (SCES) 2011, which was held from 29 August-3 September 2011, in Cambridge, UK. SCES'2011 is dedicated to 100 years of superconductivity and covers a range of topics in the area of strongly correlated systems. The correlated electronic and magnetic materials featured include f-electron based heavy fermion intermetallics and d-electron based transition metal compounds. The selected papers derived from invited presentations seek to deepen our understanding of the rich physical phenomena that arise from correlation effects. The focus is on quantum phase transitions, non-Fermi liquid phenomena, quantum magnetism, unconventional superconductivity and metal-insulator transitions. Both experimental and theoretical work is presented. Based on fundamental advances in the understanding of electronic materials, much of 20th century materials physics was driven by miniaturisation and integration in the electronics industry to the current generation of nanometre scale devices. The achievements of this industry have brought unprecedented advances to society and well-being, and no doubt there is much further to go—note that this progress is founded on investments and studies in the fundamentals of condensed matter physics from more than 50 years ago. Nevertheless, the defining challenges for the 21st century will lie in the discovery in science, and deployment through engineering, of technologies that can deliver the scale needed to have an impact on the sustainability agenda. Thus the big developments in nanotechnology may lie not in the pursuit of yet smaller transistors, but in the design of new structures that can revolutionise the performance of solar cells, batteries, fuel cells, light-weight structural materials, refrigeration, water purification, etc. The science presented in the papers of this special section also highlights the underlying interest in energy-dense materials, which

  7. Risk of early or severe pre-eclampsia related to pre-existing conditions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Catov, Janet M; Ness, Roberta B; Kip, Kevin E

    2007-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia (PE), especially severe or early PE, is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among mothers and infants. We estimated the population attributable fractions of severe or early PE associated with pre-existing conditions among nulliparous and multiparous women. METHODS...

  8. Methods for prediction of strong earthquake ground motion. Final technical report, October 1, 1976--September 30, 1977

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trifunac, M.D.

    1977-09-01

    The purpose of this report is to summarize the results of the work on characterization of strong earthquake ground motion. The objective of this effort has been to initiate presentation of simple yet detailed methodology for characterization of strong earthquake ground motion for use in licensing and evaluation of operating Nuclear Power Plants. This report will emphasize the simplicity of the methodology by presenting only the end results in a format that may be useful for the development of the site specific criteria in seismic risk analysis, for work on the development of modern standards and regulatory guides, and for re-evaluation of the existing power plant sites

  9. Strong Ideal Convergence in Probabilistic Metric Spaces

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    In the present paper we introduce the concepts of strongly ideal convergent sequence and strong ideal Cauchy sequence in a probabilistic metric (PM) space endowed with the strong topology, and establish some basic facts. Next, we define the strong ideal limit points and the strong ideal cluster points of a sequence in this ...

  10. Path-integral calculation of the density of states in heavily doped strongly compensated semiconductors in a magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koinov, Z.G.; Yanchev, I.Y.

    1981-09-01

    The density of states in heavily doped strongly compansated semiconductors in a strong magnetic field is calculated by using the path-integral method. The case is considered when correlation exists in the impurity positions owing to the Coulomb interactions between the charged donors and acceptors during the high-temperature preparation of the samples. The semiclassical formula is rederived and corrections to it due to the long-range character of the potential and its short-range fluctuations are obtained. The density of states in the tail is studied and analytical results are given in the classical and quantum cases. (author)

  11. Strong SH-to-Love wave scattering off the Southern California Continental Borderland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Chunquan; Zhan, Zhongwen; Hauksson, Egill; Cochran, Elizabeth S.

    2017-01-01

    Seismic scattering is commonly observed and results from wave propagation in heterogeneous medium. Yet, deterministic characterization of scatterers associated with lateral heterogeneities remains challenging. In this study, we analyze broadband waveforms recorded by the Southern California Seismic Network and observe strongly scattered Love waves following the arrival of teleseismic SH wave. These scattered Love waves travel approximately in the same (azimuthal) direction as the incident SH wave at a dominant period of ~10 s but at an apparent velocity of ~3.6 km/s as compared to the ~11 km/s for the SH wave. Back-projection suggests that this strong scattering is associated with pronounced bathymetric relief in the Southern California Continental Borderland, in particular the Patton Escarpment. Finite-difference simulations using a simplified 2-D bathymetric and crustal model are able to predict the arrival times and amplitudes of major scatterers. The modeling suggests a relatively low shear wave velocity in the Continental Borderland.

  12. Debunking vaccination myths: strong risk negations can increase perceived vaccination risks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Betsch, Cornelia; Sachse, Katharina

    2013-02-01

    Information about risks is often contradictory, especially in the health domain. A vast amount of bizarre information on vaccine-adverse events (VAE) can be found on the Internet; most are posted by antivaccination activists. Several actors in the health sector struggle against these statements by negating claimed risks with scientific explanations. The goal of the present work is to find optimal ways of negating risk to decrease risk perceptions. In two online experiments, we varied the extremity of risk negations and their source. Perception of the probability of VAE, their expected severity (both variables serve as indicators of perceived risk), and vaccination intentions. Paradoxically, messages strongly indicating that there is "no risk" led to a higher perceived vaccination risk than weak negations. This finding extends previous work on the negativity bias, which has shown that information stating the presence of risk decreases risk perceptions, while information negating the existence of risk increases such perceptions. Several moderators were also tested; however, the effect occurred independently of the number of negations, recipient involvement, and attitude. Solely the credibility of the information source interacted with the extremity of risk negation: For credible sources (governmental institutions), strong and weak risk negations lead to similar perceived risk, while for less credible sources (pharmaceutical industries) weak negations lead to less perceived risk than strong negations. Optimal risk negation may profit from moderate rather than extreme formulations as a source's trustworthiness can vary.

  13. New Evidence of the Existence of Associative Elements of Water (Clusters)

    OpenAIRE

    Ignat Ignatov; Oleg Mosin

    2016-01-01

    In this review it is reported about new data on the structure of water cyclic associates (clusters) with general formula (Н2О)n and their charged ionic clusters [(Н2О)n]+ and [(Н2О)n]- by means of computer modelling and spectroscopy methods as 1Н-NMR, IR-spectroscopy, DNES, EXAFS-spectroscopy, X-Ray and neurons diffraction. The computer calculation of polyhedral nanoclusters (Н2О)n, where n = 3–20 are carried out. Based on this data the main structural mathematical models describing water str...

  14. Engaging Military Fathers in a Reflective Parenting Program: Lessons from Strong Families Strong Forces

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeVoe, Ellen R.; Paris, Ruth

    2015-01-01

    Through Strong Families Strong Forces, a reflective parenting program for military families with young children, we were privileged to work with contemporary military fathers who served in the post-9/11 conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Due to this work, the authors gained valuable insight into the complexity of fathering during wartime, the…

  15. Bitcoin Meets Strong Consistency

    OpenAIRE

    Decker, Christian; Seidel, Jochen; Wattenhofer, Roger

    2014-01-01

    The Bitcoin system only provides eventual consistency. For everyday life, the time to confirm a Bitcoin transaction is prohibitively slow. In this paper we propose a new system, built on the Bitcoin blockchain, which enables strong consistency. Our system, PeerCensus, acts as a certification authority, manages peer identities in a peer-to-peer network, and ultimately enhances Bitcoin and similar systems with strong consistency. Our extensive analysis shows that PeerCensus is in a secure state...

  16. Strong Statistical Convergence in Probabilistic Metric Spaces

    OpenAIRE

    Şençimen, Celaleddin; Pehlivan, Serpil

    2008-01-01

    In this article, we introduce the concepts of strongly statistically convergent sequence and strong statistically Cauchy sequence in a probabilistic metric (PM) space endowed with the strong topology, and establish some basic facts. Next, we define the strong statistical limit points and the strong statistical cluster points of a sequence in this space and investigate the relations between these concepts.

  17. Corporate Governance Against Recommendations: The Cases of the Strong Executive and the Strong Ownership

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Král Pavel

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available There are several basic configurations of corporate governance according to the separation of ownership and control (Jensen’s theory. Effective governance is described as a situation whenan owner (or group of owners keeps the right to ratify and monitor strategic decisions while management has the right to initiate and implement those decisions. There are two particular situations how this recommendation is partially broken and both situations are linked to CEO duality. The first case happens when an owner loses or does not exercise the right to monitor management of the organization and is termed as the strong executive. The second case is calledthe strong ownership and is distinguished by an owner taking over implementations of the decisions. The focus of the study was to explore particularly configurations of the strong executive and the strong governance. A mixed method research design was chosen to explore the differences between the basic governance configurations. The sample was chosen by purposive sampling and covered a hundred for-profit organizations of all size and from all sectors of economy.The data were collected through interviews with representatives, mainly members of top management. We revealed that both of these configurations can bear good corporate performance but also bigger risks. The strong executive is typical for organizations with dispersed ownership or a publicly owned organization and the performance of the organization is fully dependent on competencies but also personalities of managers. This configuration contains a high risk of misuse of authority. The strong ownership is effective in small organizations while in a larger organization leads to an overexertion of owners and low performance because they usually faceproblems to keep focus on the strategic issues of the organization.

  18. Lagrangian formulation for a gauge theory of strong and electromagnetic interactions defined on a Cartan bundle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Drechsler, W.

    1977-01-01

    A Lagrangian formalism invariant under the gauge group U 1 xUSpsub(2.2) is set up in terms of spinor fields defined on a fiber bundle with Cartan connexion. The fiber of the Cartan bundle over space-time associated with strong interactions is characterized by an elementary length parameter R related to the range of the strong forces, and the structural group USpsub(2.2) of the bundle (being the covering group of the SOsub(4.1) de Sitter group) implies a gauge description of strong interactions based on the noncompact gauge group USpsub(2.2). The U 1 factor in the total gauge group corresponds to the usual gauge formulation for the electromagnetic interactions. The positivity of the energy associated with stable extended one-particle states in this dualistic description of charged hadronic matter immersed in the fiber geometry (this dualism is called strong fiber dynamics (SFD)) requires hadrons to be assigned to representations of the compact subgroup SU 2 xSU 2 of the strong-interaction gauge group USpsub(2.2). A brief discussion of the point-particle limit R→O is given by linking the presented SFD formalism for extended hadrons to an idealized description in terms of operators in a local quantum field theory

  19. Strong field effects on binary systems in Einstein-aether theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Foster, Brendan Z.

    2007-01-01

    'Einstein-aether' theory is a generally covariant theory of gravity containing a dynamical preferred frame. This article continues an examination of effects on the motion of binary pulsar systems in this theory, by incorporating effects due to strong fields in the vicinity of neutron star pulsars. These effects are included through an effective approach, by treating the compact bodies as point particles with nonstandard, velocity dependent interactions parametrized by dimensionless sensitivities. Effective post-Newtonian equations of motion for the bodies and the radiation damping rate are determined. More work is needed to calculate values of the sensitivities for a given fluid source; therefore, precise constraints on the theory's coupling constants cannot yet be stated. It is shown, however, that strong field effects will be negligible given current observational uncertainties if the dimensionless couplings are less than roughly 0.1 and two conditions that match the PPN parameters to those of pure general relativity are imposed. In this case, weak field results suffice. There then exists a one-parameter family of Einstein-aether theories with 'small-enough' couplings that passes all current observational tests. No conclusion can be reached for larger couplings until the sensitivities for a given source can be calculated

  20. Challenge to the model of lake charr evolution: Shallow- and deep-water morphs exist within a small postglacial lake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chavarie, Louise; Muir, Andrew M.; Zimmerman, Mara S.; Baillie, Shauna M.; Hansen, Michael J.; Nate, Nancy A.; Yule, Daniel L.; Middel, Trevor; Bentzen, Paul; Krueger, Charles C.

    2016-01-01

    All examples of lake charr (Salvelinus namaycush) diversity occur within the largest, deepest lakes of North America (i.e. > 2000 km2). We report here Rush Lake (1.3 km2) as the first example of a small lake with two lake charr morphs (lean and huronicus). Morphology, diet, life history, and genetics were examined to demonstrate the existence of morphs and determine the potential influence of evolutionary processes that led to their formation or maintenance. Results showed that the huronicus morph, caught in deep-water, had a deeper body, smaller head and jaws, higher eye position, greater buoyancy, and deeper peduncle than the shallow-water lean morph. Huronicus grew slower to a smaller adult size, and had an older mean age than the lean morph. Genetic comparisons showed low genetic divergence between morphs, indicating incomplete reproductive isolation. Phenotypic plasticity and differences in habitat use between deep and shallow waters associated with variation in foraging opportunities seems to have been sufficient to maintain the two morphs, demonstrating their important roles in resource polymorphism. Rush Lake expands previous explanations for lake charr intraspecific diversity, from large to small lakes and from reproductive isolation to the presence of gene flow associated with strong ecological drivers.

  1. Strong eukaryotic IRESs have weak secondary structure.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuhua Xia

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The objective of this work was to investigate the hypothesis that eukaryotic Internal Ribosome Entry Sites (IRES lack secondary structure and to examine the generality of the hypothesis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: IRESs of the yeast and the fruit fly are located in the 5'UTR immediately upstream of the initiation codon. The minimum folding energy (MFE of 60 nt RNA segments immediately upstream of the initiation codons was calculated as a proxy of secondary structure stability. MFE of the reverse complements of these 60 nt segments was also calculated. The relationship between MFE and empirically determined IRES activity was investigated to test the hypothesis that strong IRES activity is associated with weak secondary structure. We show that IRES activity in the yeast and the fruit fly correlates strongly with the structural stability, with highest IRES activity found in RNA segments that exhibit the weakest secondary structure. CONCLUSIONS: We found that a subset of eukaryotic IRESs exhibits very low secondary structure in the 5'-UTR sequences immediately upstream of the initiation codon. The consistency in results between the yeast and the fruit fly suggests a possible shared mechanism of cap-independent translation initiation that relies on an unstructured RNA segment.

  2. The Gambler’s Fallacy Is Associated with Weak Affective Decision Making but Strong Cognitive Ability

    OpenAIRE

    Xue, Gui; He, Qinghua; Lei, Xuemei; Chen, Chunhui; Liu, Yuyun; Chen, Chuansheng; Lu, Zhong-Lin; Dong, Qi; Bechara, Antoine

    2012-01-01

    Humans demonstrate an inherent bias towards making maladaptive decisions, as shown by a phenomenon known as the gambler's fallacy (GF). The GF has been traditionally considered as a heuristic bias supported by the fast and automatic intuition system, which can be overcome by the reasoning system. The present study examined an intriguing hypothesis, based on emerging evidence from neuroscience research, that the GF might be attributed to a weak affective but strong cognitive decision making me...

  3. OBSERVATION OF STRONG - STRONG AND OTHER BEAM - BEAM EFFECTS IN RHIC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    FISCHER, W.; BLASKIEWICZ, M.; BRENNAN, J.M.; CAMERON, P.; CONNOLLY, R.; MONTAG, C.; PEGGS, S.; PILAT, F.; PTITSYN, V.; TEPIKIAN, S.; TRBOJEVIC, D.; VAN ZEIJTS, J.

    2003-01-01

    RHIC is currently the only hadron collider in which strong-strong beam-beam effects can be seen. For the first time, coherent beam-beam modes were observed in a bunched beam hadron collider. Other beam-beam effects in RHIC were observed in operation and in dedicated experiments with gold ions, deuterons and protons. Observations include measurements of beam-beam induced tune shifts, lifetime and emittance growth measurements with and without beam-beam interaction, and background rates as a function of tunes. During ramps unequal radio frequencies in the two rings cause the crossing points to move longitudinally. Thus bunches experience beam-beam interactions only in intervals and the tunes are modulated. In this article we summarize the most important beam-beam observations made so far

  4. How many N = 4 strings exist?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ketov, S.V.

    1994-09-01

    Possible ways of constructing extended fermionic strings with N=4 world-sheet supersymmetry are reviewed. String theory constraints form, in general, a non-linear quasi(super)conformal algebra, and can have conformal dimensions ≥1. When N=4, the most general N=4 quasi-superconformal algebra to consider for string theory building is D(1, 2; α), whose linearisation is the so-called ''large'' N=4 superconformal algebra. The D(1, 2; α) algebra has su(2)sub(κ + )+su(2)sub(κ - )+u(1) Kac-Moody component, and α=κ - /κ + . We check the Jacobi identities and construct a BRST charge for the D(1, 2; α) algebra. The quantum BRST operator can be made nilpotent only when κ + =κ - =-2. The D(1, 2; 1) algebra is actually isomorphic to the SO(4)-based Bershadsky-Knizhnik non-linear quasi-superconformal algebra. We argue about the existence of a string theory associated with the latter, and propose the (non-covariant) hamiltonian action for this new N=4 string theory. Our results imply the existence of two different N=4 fermionic string theories: the old one based on the ''small'' linear N=4 superconformal algebra and having the total ghost central charge c gh =+12, and the new one with non-linearly realised N=4 supersymmetry, based on the SO(4) quasi-superconformal algebra and having c gh =+6. Both critical string theories have negative ''critical dimensions'' and do not admit unitary matter representations. (orig.)

  5. Elaboration of the recently proposed test of Pauli's principle under strong interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ktorides, C.N.; Myung, H.C.; Santilli, R.M.

    1980-01-01

    The primary objective of this paper is to stimulate the experimental verification of the validity or invalidity of Pauli's principle under strong interactions. We first outline the most relevant steps in the evolution of the notion of particle. The spin as well as other intrinsic characteristics of extended, massive, particles under electromagnetic interactions at large distances might be subjected to a mutation under additional strong interactions at distances smaller than their charge radius. These dynamical effects can apparently be conjectured to account for the nonpointlike nature of the particles, their necessary state of penetration to activate the strong interactions, and the consequential emergence of broader forces which imply the breaking of the SU(2)-spin symmetry. We study a characterization of the mutated value of the spin via the transition from the associative enveloping algebra of SU(2) to a nonassociative Lie-admissible form. The departure from the original associative product then becomes directly representative of the breaking of the SU(2)-spin symmetry, the presence of forces more general than those derivable from a potential, and the mutated value of the spin. In turn, such a departure of the spin from conventional quantum-mechanical values implies the inapplicability of Pauli's exclusion principle under strong interactions, because, according to this hypothesis, particles that are fermions under long-range electromagnetic interactions are no longer fermions under these broader, short-range, forces. In nuclear physics possible deviations from Pauli's exclusion principle can at most be very small. These experimental data establish that, for the nuclei considered, nucleons are in a partial state of penetration of their charge volumes although of small statistical character

  6. On the Existence of Regular and Irregular Outer Moons Orbiting the Pluto–Charon System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Michaely, Erez; Perets, Hagai B.; Grishin, Evgeni [Physics Department, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200004 (Israel)

    2017-02-10

    The dwarf planet Pluto is known to host an extended system of five co-planar satellites. Previous studies have explored the formation and evolution of the system in isolation, neglecting perturbative effects by the Sun. Here we show that secular evolution due to the Sun can strongly affect the evolution of outer satellites and rings in the system, if such exist. Although precession due to extended gravitational potential from the inner Pluto–Charon binary quench such secular evolution up to a {sub crit} ∼ 0.0035 au (∼0.09 R {sub Hill} the Hill radius; including all of the currently known satellites), outer orbits can be significantly altered. In particular, we find that co-planar rings and satellites should not exist beyond a {sub crit}; rather, satellites and dust particles in these regions secularly evolve on timescales ranging between 10{sup 4} and 10{sup 6} years, and quasi-periodically change their inclinations and eccentricities through secular evolution (Lidov–Kozai oscillations). Such oscillations can lead to high inclinations and eccentricities, constraining the range where such satellites (and dust particles) can exist without crossing the orbits of the inner satellites or crossing the outer Hill stability range. Outer satellites, if such exist are therefore likely to be irregular satellites, with orbits limited to be non-circular and/or highly inclined. Current observations, including the recent data from the New-Horizons mission explored only inner regions (<0.0012 au) and excluded the existence of additional satellites; however, the irregular satellites discussed here should reside farther, in the yet uncharted regions around Pluto.

  7. On the Existence of Regular and Irregular Outer Moons Orbiting the Pluto–Charon System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Michaely, Erez; Perets, Hagai B.; Grishin, Evgeni

    2017-01-01

    The dwarf planet Pluto is known to host an extended system of five co-planar satellites. Previous studies have explored the formation and evolution of the system in isolation, neglecting perturbative effects by the Sun. Here we show that secular evolution due to the Sun can strongly affect the evolution of outer satellites and rings in the system, if such exist. Although precession due to extended gravitational potential from the inner Pluto–Charon binary quench such secular evolution up to a crit ∼ 0.0035 au (∼0.09 R Hill the Hill radius; including all of the currently known satellites), outer orbits can be significantly altered. In particular, we find that co-planar rings and satellites should not exist beyond a crit ; rather, satellites and dust particles in these regions secularly evolve on timescales ranging between 10 4 and 10 6 years, and quasi-periodically change their inclinations and eccentricities through secular evolution (Lidov–Kozai oscillations). Such oscillations can lead to high inclinations and eccentricities, constraining the range where such satellites (and dust particles) can exist without crossing the orbits of the inner satellites or crossing the outer Hill stability range. Outer satellites, if such exist are therefore likely to be irregular satellites, with orbits limited to be non-circular and/or highly inclined. Current observations, including the recent data from the New-Horizons mission explored only inner regions (<0.0012 au) and excluded the existence of additional satellites; however, the irregular satellites discussed here should reside farther, in the yet uncharted regions around Pluto.

  8. Existence of charges and mass-spliting in relativistic quantum field theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gal-Ezer, E.; Horwitz, L.P.

    1976-01-01

    The existence of charge operators associated with integrals of local densities in the (Wightman) framework of quantum field theory, in the presence of explicit symmetry breaking, can be demonstrated in certain cases. Their construction, in terms of null-plane integrals, is rather delicate. The possibility that a finite number of null-plane charges, which includes the Poincare generators, close on an algebra whose irreducible representations contain particles with different masses is considered; domain problems are shown to invalidate the basic hypotheses of the O'Raifeartaigh theorem. Null-plane Fourier transforms, which enter into the discussion of current algebra at infinite momentum, are also studied. It is shown that slns behavior is the maximal growth of high energy off mass shell amplitudes consistent with the existence of null-plane charges and null-plane Fourier transforms. Under the assumption that asymptotic states exist, these results also hold in the case of spontaneously broken chiral symmetry, with massless pseudoscalar Goldstone bosons

  9. Strong-coupling analysis of large bipolarons in two and three dimensions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Verbist, G.; Smondyrev, M.A.; Peeters, F.M.; Devreese, J.T.

    1992-01-01

    In the limit of strong electron-phonon coupling, we use either a Pekar-type or an oscillator wave function for the center-of-mass coordinate and either a Coulomb or an oscillator wave function for the relative coordinate, and are able to reproduce all the results from the literature for the large-bipolaron binding energy. Lower bounds are constructed for the critical ratio η c of dielectric constants below which bipolarons can exist. It is found that, in the strong-coupling limit, the stability region for bipolaron formation is much larger in two dimensions (2D) than in 3D. We introduce a model that combines the averaging of the relative coordinate over the asymptotically best wave function with a path-integral treatment of the center-of-mass motion. The stability region for bipolaron formation is increased compared with the full path-integral treatment at large values of the coupling constant α. The critical values are α c ∼9.3 in 3D and α c ∼4.5 in 2D. Phase diagrams for the presented models are also obtained in both 2D and 3D

  10. Self-gravito-acoustic shock structures in a self-gravitating, strongly coupled, multi-component, degenerate quantum plasma system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mamun, A. A.

    2017-10-01

    The existence of self-gravito-acoustic (SGA) shock structures (SSs) associated with negative self-gravitational potential in a self-gravitating, strongly coupled, multi-component, degenerate quantum plasma (SGSCMCDQP) system is predicted for the first time. The modified Burgers (MB) equation, which is valid for both planar and non-planar (spherical) geometries, is derived analytically, and solved numerically. It is shown that the longitudinal viscous force acting on inertial plasma species of the plasma system is the source of dissipation and is responsible for the formation of these SGA SSs in the plasma system. The time evolution of these SGA SSs is also shown for different values (viz., 0.5, 1, and 2) of Γ, where Γ is the ratio of the nonlinear coefficient to the dissipative coefficient in the MB equation. The SGSCMCDQP model and the numerical analysis of the MB equation presented here are so general that they can be applied in any type of SGSCMCDQP systems like astrophysical compact objects having planar or non-planar (spherical) shape.

  11. Corporate Psychopaths: They exist and degrade the organizational climate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    João Batista Turrioni

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: This Article discusses the corporate psychopath subject, a term that refers to psychopaths of performance in the workplace. The research is justified by the need for organizations to maintain positive organizational climate in the pursuit of productivity and competitiveness. Research indicates that after the judicial prisons and asylums is within organizations that these personalities cause enormous damage. The study aims to identify the action of corporate psychopath within organizations and its consequences to the organizational climate. To this end it carried out a literature review and a quantitative research with employees of public and private companies. It was observed that these personalities exist within organizations, are identified by colleagues and actually cause inconvenience and loss to businesses. It is the management of people trying to prevent their entry in the companies or developing a strong organizational culture that becomes a barrier to the operation of these personalities. Keywords: Psychopath, Corporate Psychopath, Climate Organizational, People Management

  12. Searching for flavor labels in food products: The influence of color-flavor congruence and association strength

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos eVelasco

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Prior research provides robust support for the existence of a number of associations between colors and flavors. In the present study, we examined whether congruent (vs. incongruent combinations of product packaging colors and flavor labels would facilitate visual search for products labelled with specific flavors in a Stroop-like manner. Across two experiments, a Stroop-like effect between flavor words and packaging colors is documented and we demonstrate that people are able to search for packaging flavor labels more rapidly when the color of the packaging is congruent with the flavor label (e.g., red/tomato than when it is incongruent (e.g., yellow/tomato. In addition, when the packaging color was incongruent, those flavor labels that were more strongly associated with a specific color yielded slower reaction times and more errors (Stroop interference than those that were less strongly tied to a specific color. Importantly, search efficiency was affected both by color/flavor congruence and association strength. Taken together, these results therefore highlight the role of color congruence and color-word association strength when it comes to searching for specific flavor labels.

  13. Simplified Summative Temporal Bone Dissection Scale Demonstrates Equivalence to Existing Measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pisa, Justyn; Gousseau, Michael; Mowat, Stephanie; Westerberg, Brian; Unger, Bert; Hochman, Jordan B

    2018-01-01

    Emphasis on patient safety has created the need for quality assessment of fundamental surgical skills. Existing temporal bone rating scales are laborious, subject to evaluator fatigue, and contain inconsistencies when conferring points. To address these deficiencies, a novel binary assessment tool was designed and validated against a well-established rating scale. Residents completed a mastoidectomy with posterior tympanotomy on identical 3D-printed temporal bone models. Four neurotologists evaluated each specimen using a validated scale (Welling) and a newly developed "CanadaWest" scale, with scoring repeated after a 4-week interval. Nineteen participants were clustered into junior, intermediate, and senior cohorts. An ANOVA found significant differences between performance of the junior-intermediate and junior-senior cohorts for both Welling and CanadaWest scales ( P .05). Cohen's kappa found strong intrarater reliability (0.711) with a high degree of interrater reliability of (0.858) for the CanadaWest scale, similar to scores on the Welling scale of (0.713) and (0.917), respectively. The CanadaWest scale was facile and delineated performance by experience level with strong intrarater reliability. Comparable to the validated Welling Scale, it distinguished junior from senior trainees but was challenged in differentiating intermediate and senior trainee performance.

  14. A new family of Polak-Ribiere-Polyak conjugate gradient method with the strong-Wolfe line search

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghani, Nur Hamizah Abdul; Mamat, Mustafa; Rivaie, Mohd

    2017-08-01

    Conjugate gradient (CG) method is an important technique in unconstrained optimization, due to its effectiveness and low memory requirements. The focus of this paper is to introduce a new CG method for solving large scale unconstrained optimization. Theoretical proofs show that the new method fulfills sufficient descent condition if strong Wolfe-Powell inexact line search is used. Besides, computational results show that our proposed method outperforms to other existing CG methods.

  15. Short proofs of strong normalization

    OpenAIRE

    Wojdyga, Aleksander

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents simple, syntactic strong normalization proofs for the simply-typed lambda-calculus and the polymorphic lambda-calculus (system F) with the full set of logical connectives, and all the permutative reductions. The normalization proofs use translations of terms and types to systems, for which strong normalization property is known.

  16. A Variational Reduction and the Existence of a Fully Localised Solitary Wave for the Three-Dimensional Water-Wave Problem with Weak Surface Tension

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buffoni, Boris; Groves, Mark D.; Wahlén, Erik

    2018-06-01

    Fully localised solitary waves are travelling-wave solutions of the three- dimensional gravity-capillary water wave problem which decay to zero in every horizontal spatial direction. Their existence has been predicted on the basis of numerical simulations and model equations (in which context they are usually referred to as `lumps'), and a mathematically rigorous existence theory for strong surface tension (Bond number {β} greater than {1/3}) has recently been given. In this article we present an existence theory for the physically more realistic case {0 point of the reduced functional is found by minimising it over its natural constraint set.

  17. Strong antitumor activities of IgG3 antibodies to a human melanoma-associated ganglioside

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hellstroem, I.; Brankovan, V.; Hellstroem, K.E.

    1985-01-01

    Three mouse monoclonal IgG3 antibodies, 2B2, IF4, and MG-21, recognize a G/sub D3/ ganglioside antigen that is expressed at the cell surface of most human melanomas. All three antibodies mediate antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) in vitro when tested with human lymphocytes or effector cells in a 2-hr or 4-hr 51 Cr-release test, and one antibody, MG-21, also gives strong complement-dependent cytotoxicity with human serum. Antibody 2B2, which gives ADDC also in the presence of mouse lymphocytes, inhibited the outgrowth of a human melanoma in nude mice, but antibody IF4, which showed no ADCC with mouse lymphocyte effectors, did not

  18. Evidence that gendered wording in job advertisements exists and sustains gender inequality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaucher, Danielle; Friesen, Justin; Kay, Aaron C

    2011-07-01

    Social dominance theory (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) contends that institutional-level mechanisms exist that reinforce and perpetuate existing group-based inequalities, but very few such mechanisms have been empirically demonstrated. We propose that gendered wording (i.e., masculine- and feminine-themed words, such as those associated with gender stereotypes) may be a heretofore unacknowledged, institutional-level mechanism of inequality maintenance. Employing both archival and experimental analyses, the present research demonstrates that gendered wording commonly employed in job recruitment materials can maintain gender inequality in traditionally male-dominated occupations. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated the existence of subtle but systematic wording differences within a randomly sampled set of job advertisements. Results indicated that job advertisements for male-dominated areas employed greater masculine wording (i.e., words associated with male stereotypes, such as leader, competitive, dominant) than advertisements within female-dominated areas. No difference in the presence of feminine wording (i.e., words associated with female stereotypes, such as support, understand, interpersonal) emerged across male- and female-dominated areas. Next, the consequences of highly masculine wording were tested across 3 experimental studies. When job advertisements were constructed to include more masculine than feminine wording, participants perceived more men within these occupations (Study 3), and importantly, women found these jobs less appealing (Studies 4 and 5). Results confirmed that perceptions of belongingness (but not perceived skills) mediated the effect of gendered wording on job appeal (Study 5). The function of gendered wording in maintaining traditional gender divisions, implications for gender parity, and theoretical models of inequality are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

  19. Images and visuality in ICT educational design<strong> strong>

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Buhl, Mie

    2010-01-01

    The concept of educational design emphasises the educational dimension in the development of ICT-based learning tools and environments, and in the form of models for the use of existing applications in learning cultures. The intrinsic breadth of various types of images creates new possibilities a...

  20. Construction of exchange-correlation functionals through interpolation between the non-interacting and the strong-correlation limit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou, Yongxi; Ernzerhof, Matthias; Bahmann, Hilke

    2015-01-01

    Drawing on the adiabatic connection of density functional theory, exchange-correlation functionals of Kohn-Sham density functional theory are constructed which interpolate between the extreme limits of the electron-electron interaction strength. The first limit is the non-interacting one, where there is only exchange. The second limit is the strong correlated one, characterized as the minimum of the electron-electron repulsion energy. The exchange-correlation energy in the strong-correlation limit is approximated through a model for the exchange-correlation hole that is referred to as nonlocal-radius model [L. O. Wagner and P. Gori-Giorgi, Phys. Rev. A 90, 052512 (2014)]. Using the non-interacting and strong-correlated extremes, various interpolation schemes are presented that yield new approximations to the adiabatic connection and thus to the exchange-correlation energy. Some of them rely on empiricism while others do not. Several of the proposed approximations yield the exact exchange-correlation energy for one-electron systems where local and semi-local approximations often fail badly. Other proposed approximations generalize existing global hybrids by using a fraction of the exchange-correlation energy in the strong-correlation limit to replace an equal fraction of the semi-local approximation to the exchange-correlation energy in the strong-correlation limit. The performance of the proposed approximations is evaluated for molecular atomization energies, total atomic energies, and ionization potentials

  1. 14 CFR 1251.301 - Existing facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Existing facilities. 1251.301 Section 1251... HANDICAP Accessibility § 1251.301 Existing facilities. (a) Accessibility. A recipient shall operate each... existing facilities or every part of a facility accessible to and usable by handicapped persons. (b...

  2. 10 CFR 611.206 - Existing facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Existing facilities. 611.206 Section 611.206 Energy... PROGRAM Facility/Funding Awards § 611.206 Existing facilities. The Secretary shall, in making awards to those manufacturers that have existing facilities, give priority to those facilities that are oldest or...

  3. A precariedade humana e a existência estilizada Human precariousness and stylized existence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rita Paiva

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Este artigo tematiza o desamparo vivenciado pela consciência ante a ausência de bases sólidas para seus anseios de felicidade e para suas representações simbólicas. Com esse propósito, toma como objeto de reflexão um dos ensaios filosóficos de Albert Camus, O mito de Sísifo, equacionando a possibilidade de uma ética que estilize a vida, sem que se minimize a dolorosa precariedade da existência humana. Posteriormente, em diálogo com alguns textos de M. Foucault, a reflexão procura estabelecer os vínculos possíveis entre a ética camusiana e a ética como uma estética da existência, tal como pensada entre os gregos antigos.This article discusses the helplessness experienced by the consciousness vis-à-vis the absence of solid bases for its longings for happiness and for its symbolic representations. For this purpose, the object of reflection of the article is one of Albert Camus' philosophical essays, The Myth of Sisyphus, and we inquire into the possibility of an ethics that stylizes life without minimizing the painful precariousness of human existence. Making reference to certain texts by Foucault, we attempt to establish possible connections between Camus' ethics and an ethics of the aesthetics of existence as found in the thinkers of ancient Greece.

  4. One-baryon spectrum and analytical properties of one-baryon dispersion curves in 3 + 1 dimensional strongly coupled lattice QCD with three flavors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faria da Veiga, Paulo A.; O’Carroll, Michael; Valencia Alvites, José C.

    2016-01-01

    Considering a 3 + 1 dimensional lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) model defined with the improved Wilson action, three flavors, and 4 × 4 Dirac spin matrices, in the strong coupling regime, we reanalyze the question of the existence of the eightfold way baryons and complete our previous work where the existence of isospin octet baryons was rigorously solved. Here, we show the existence of isospin decuplet baryons which are associated with isolated dispersion curves in the subspace of the underlying quantum mechanical Hilbert space with vectors constructed with an odd number of fermion and antifermion basic quark and antiquark fields. Moreover, smoothness properties for these curves are obtained. The present work deals with a case for which the traditional method to solve the implicit equation for the dispersion curves, based on the use of the analytic implicit function theorem, cannot be applied. We do not have only one but two solutions for each one-baryon decuplet sector with fixed spin third component. Instead, we apply the Weierstrass preparation theorem, which also provides a general method for the general degenerate case. This work is completed by analyzing a spectral representation for the two-baryon correlations and providing the leading behaviors of the field strength normalization and the mass of the spectral contributions with more than one-particle. These are needed results for a rigorous analysis of the two-baryon and meson-baryon particle spectra.

  5. One-baryon spectrum and analytical properties of one-baryon dispersion curves in 3 + 1 dimensional strongly coupled lattice QCD with three flavors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Faria da Veiga, Paulo A., E-mail: veiga@icmc.usp.br; O’Carroll, Michael, E-mail: michaelocarroll@gmail.com; Valencia Alvites, José C., E-mail: cien.mat@hotmail.com [Departamento de Matemática Aplicada e Estatística, ICMC, USP-São Carlos, C.P. 668, São Carlos, SP 13560-970 (Brazil)

    2016-03-15

    Considering a 3 + 1 dimensional lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) model defined with the improved Wilson action, three flavors, and 4 × 4 Dirac spin matrices, in the strong coupling regime, we reanalyze the question of the existence of the eightfold way baryons and complete our previous work where the existence of isospin octet baryons was rigorously solved. Here, we show the existence of isospin decuplet baryons which are associated with isolated dispersion curves in the subspace of the underlying quantum mechanical Hilbert space with vectors constructed with an odd number of fermion and antifermion basic quark and antiquark fields. Moreover, smoothness properties for these curves are obtained. The present work deals with a case for which the traditional method to solve the implicit equation for the dispersion curves, based on the use of the analytic implicit function theorem, cannot be applied. We do not have only one but two solutions for each one-baryon decuplet sector with fixed spin third component. Instead, we apply the Weierstrass preparation theorem, which also provides a general method for the general degenerate case. This work is completed by analyzing a spectral representation for the two-baryon correlations and providing the leading behaviors of the field strength normalization and the mass of the spectral contributions with more than one-particle. These are needed results for a rigorous analysis of the two-baryon and meson-baryon particle spectra.

  6. 45 CFR 1170.32 - Existing facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Existing facilities. 1170.32 Section 1170.32... ASSISTED PROGRAMS OR ACTIVITIES Accessibility § 1170.32 Existing facilities. (a) Accessibility. A recipient... require a recipient to make each of its existing facilities or every part of a facility accessible to and...

  7. 45 CFR 605.22 - Existing facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Existing facilities. 605.22 Section 605.22 Public... Accessibility § 605.22 Existing facilities. (a) Accessibility. A recipient shall operate each program or... existing facilities or every part of a facility accessible to and usable by qualified handicapped persons...

  8. 45 CFR 1151.22 - Existing facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Existing facilities. 1151.22 Section 1151.22... Prohibited Accessibility § 1151.22 Existing facilities. (a) A recipient shall operate each program or... make each of its existing facilities or every part of a facility accessible to and usable by...

  9. Application of strong phosphoric acid to radiochemistry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Terada, Kikuo

    1977-01-01

    Not only inorganic and organic compounds but also natural substrances, such as accumulations in soil, are completely decomposed and distilled by heating with strong phosphoric acid for 30 to 50 minutes. As applications of strong phosphoric acid to radiochemistry, determination of uranium and boron by use of solubilization effect of this substance, titration of uranyl ion by use of sulfuric iron (II) contained in this substance, application to tracer experiment, and determination of radioactive ruthenium in environmental samples are reviewed. Strong phosphoric acid is also applied to activation analysis, for example, determination of N in pyrographite with iodate potassium-strong phosphoric acid method, separation of Os and Ru with sulfuric cerium (IV) - strong phosphoric acid method or potassium dechromate-strong phosphoric acid method, analysis of Se, As and Sb rocks and accumulations with ammonium bromide, sodium chloride and sodium bromide-strong phosphoric acid method. (Kanao, N.)

  10. The Quake-Catcher Network: Improving Earthquake Strong Motion Observations Through Community Engagement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cochran, E. S.; Lawrence, J. F.; Christensen, C. M.; Chung, A. I.; Neighbors, C.; Saltzman, J.

    2010-12-01

    similar to those reported in regional and global catalogs. As the network expands, it will become increasingly important to provide volunteers access to the data they collect, both to encourage continued participation in the network and to improve community engagement in scientific discourse related to seismic hazard. In the future, we hope to provide access to both images and raw data from seismograms in formats accessible to the general public through existing seismic data archives (e.g. IRIS, SCSN) and/or through the QCN project website. While encouraging community participation in seismic data collection, we can extend the capabilities of existing seismic networks to rapidly detect and characterize strong motion events. In addition, the dense waveform observations may provide high-resolution ground shaking information to improve source imaging and seismic risk assessment.

  11. Reasoned opinion on the modification of the existing MRLs for indoxacarb in various crops

    OpenAIRE

    European Food Safety Authority

    2012-01-01

    In accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, Spain received an application from the Spanish Federation of Associations of Producers and Exporters of Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers and Live Plants (FEPEX) to modify the existing MRLs for the active substance indoxacarb in raspberries and strawberries. In accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, The Netherlands received an application from DuPont Danmark to modify the existing MRLs for the active substance ...

  12. Existence and non-existence of solutions for a p(x-biharmonic problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ghasem A. Afrouzi

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available In this article, we study the following problem with Navier boundary conditions $$\\displaylines{ \\Delta (|\\Delta u|^{p(x-2}\\Delta u+|u|^{p(x-2}u =\\lambda |u|^{q(x-2}u +\\mu|u|^{\\gamma(x-2}u\\quad \\text{in } \\Omega,\\cr u=\\Delta u=0 \\quad \\text{on } \\partial\\Omega. }$$ where $\\Omega$ is a bounded domain in $\\mathbb{R}^{N}$ with smooth boundary $\\partial \\Omega$, $N\\geq1$. $p(x,q(x$ and $\\gamma(x$ are continuous functions on $\\overline{\\Omega}$, $\\lambda$ and $\\mu$ are parameters. Using variational methods, we establish some existence and non-existence results of solutions for this problem.

  13. Review and analysis of existing mobile phone applications for health care-associated infection prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schnall, Rebecca; Iribarren, Sarah J

    2015-06-01

    The expanding number of mobile health applications (apps) holds potential to reduce and eliminate health care-associated infections (HAIs) in clinical practice. The purpose of this review was to identify and provide an overview of the apps available to support prevention of HAIs and to assess their functionality and potential uses in clinical care. We searched 3 online mobile app stores using the following terms: infection prevention, prevention, hand hygiene, hand washing, and specific HAI terms (catheter-associated urinary tract infection [CAUTI], central line-associated bloodstream infections, surgical site infection, and ventilator associated pneumonia [VAP]). Search queries yielded a total of 2,646 potentially relevant apps, of which 17 met our final inclusion criteria. The areas of focus were CAUTI (n = 1, 5.9%), VAP (n = 1, 5.9%), environmental monitoring (n = 2, 11.8%), and hand hygiene (n = 2, 11.8%); the remainder (n = 11, 64.7%) were focused on >1 area (eg, multiple infection prevention bundles, infection prevention guidelines). Almost all of the apps (70.6%) had a maximum of two functions. Mobile apps may help reduce HAI by providing easy access to guidelines, hand hygiene monitoring support, or step-by-step procedures aimed at reducing infections at the point of clinical care. Given the dearth of available apps and the lack of functionality with those that are available, there is a need for further development of mobile apps for HAI prevention at the point of care. Copyright © 2015 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. 34 CFR 104.22 - Existing facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 34 Education 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Existing facilities. 104.22 Section 104.22 Education... Accessibility § 104.22 Existing facilities. (a) Accessibility. A recipient shall operate its program or activity.... This paragraph does not require a recipient to make each of its existing facilities or every part of a...

  15. Plexcitons: The Role of Oscillator Strengths and Spectral Widths in Determining Strong Coupling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thomas, Reshmi [School; Thomas, Anoop [School; Pullanchery, Saranya [School; Joseph, Linta [School; Somasundaran, Sanoop Mambully [School; Swathi, Rotti Srinivasamurthy [School; Gray, Stephen K. [Center; Thomas, K. George [School

    2018-01-05

    Strong coupling interactions between plasmon and exciton-based excitations have been proposed to be useful in the design of optoelectronic systems. However, the role of various optical parameters dictating the plasmon-exciton (plexciton) interactions is less understood. Herein, we propose an inequality for achieving strong coupling between plasmons and excitons through appropriate variation of their oscillator strengths and spectral widths. These aspects are found to be consistent with experiments on two sets of free-standing plexcitonic systems obtained by (i) linking fluorescein isothiocyanate on Ag nanoparticles of varying sizes through silane coupling and (ii) electrostatic binding of cyanine dyes on polystyrenesulfonate-coated Au nanorods of varying aspect ratios. Being covalently linked on Ag nanoparticles, fluorescein isothiocyanate remains in monomeric state, and its high oscillator strength and narrow spectral width enable us to approach the strong coupling limit. In contrast, in the presence of polystyrenesulfonate, monomeric forms of cyanine dyes exist in equilibrium with their aggregates: Coupling is not observed for monomers and H-aggregates whose optical parameters are unfavorable. The large aggregation number, narrow spectral width, and extremely high oscillator strength of J-aggregates of cyanines permit effective delocalization of excitons along the linear assembly of chromophores, which in turn leads to efficient coupling with the plasmons. Further, the results obtained from experiments and theoretical models are jointly employed to describe the plexcitonic states, estimate the coupling strengths, and rationalize the dispersion curves. The experimental results and the theoretical analysis presented here portray a way forward to the rational design of plexcitonic systems attaining the strong coupling limits.

  16. Strongly correlating liquids and their isomorphs

    OpenAIRE

    Pedersen, Ulf R.; Gnan, Nicoletta; Bailey, Nicholas P.; Schröder, Thomas B.; Dyre, Jeppe C.

    2010-01-01

    This paper summarizes the properties of strongly correlating liquids, i.e., liquids with strong correlations between virial and potential energy equilibrium fluctuations at constant volume. We proceed to focus on the experimental predictions for strongly correlating glass-forming liquids. These predictions include i) density scaling, ii) isochronal superposition, iii) that there is a single function from which all frequency-dependent viscoelastic response functions may be calculated, iv) that...

  17. Blow-Up Analysis for a Quasilinear Degenerate Parabolic Equation with Strongly Nonlinear Source

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pan Zheng

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available We investigate the blow-up properties of the positive solution of the Cauchy problem for a quasilinear degenerate parabolic equation with strongly nonlinear source ut=div(|∇um|p−2∇ul+uq,  (x,t∈RN×(0,T, where N≥1, p>2 , and m, l,  q>1, and give a secondary critical exponent on the decay asymptotic behavior of an initial value at infinity for the existence and nonexistence of global solutions of the Cauchy problem. Moreover, under some suitable conditions we prove single-point blow-up for a large class of radial decreasing solutions.

  18. [The depression epidemic does not exist].

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Feltz-Cornelis, Christina M

    2009-01-01

    There has been much discussion in the media about the question of the existence of a depression epidemic. This leads on to the questions of whether the social and economic approaches are adequate, and what the alternatives are. The concept of the disease 'depression' can be defined using a medical model, or from a patient's or a societal perspective. From a medical perspective, indeed a depression epidemic has ensued from the increased prosperity and the associated decompression of the mortality rate. Society responded with preventative measures and policies aimed at improving functioning in the workplace. However, patients with a major depressive disorder (MDD) who are eligible for treatment are often not motivated to take it up, or are undertreated. Research is necessary in order to explore what patients think about the identification and treatment of depression. The confusion regarding the concept of depression found in the media, needs to be cleared.

  19. On a strong solution of the non-stationary Navier-Stokes equations under slip or leak boundary conditions of friction type

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kashiwabara, Takahito

    Strong solutions of the non-stationary Navier-Stokes equations under non-linearized slip or leak boundary conditions are investigated. We show that the problems are formulated by a variational inequality of parabolic type, to which uniqueness is established. Using Galerkin's method and deriving a priori estimates, we prove global and local existence for 2D and 3D slip problems respectively. For leak problems, under no-leak assumption at t=0 we prove local existence in 2D and 3D cases. Compatibility conditions for initial states play a significant role in the estimates.

  20. Nonlinear wave collapse and strong turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robinson, P.A.

    1997-01-01

    The theory and applications of wave self-focusing, collapse, and strongly nonlinear wave turbulence are reviewed. In the last decade, the theory of these phenomena and experimental realizations have progressed rapidly. Various nonlinear wave systems are discussed, but the simplest case of collapse and strong turbulence of Langmuir waves in an unmagnetized plasma is primarily used in explaining the theory and illustrating the main ideas. First, an overview of the basic physics of linear waves and nonlinear wave-wave interactions is given from an introductory perspective. Wave-wave processes are then considered in more detail. Next, an introductory overview of the physics of wave collapse and strong turbulence is provided, followed by a more detailed theoretical treatment. Later sections cover numerical simulations of Langmuir collapse and strong turbulence and experimental applications to space, ionospheric, and laboratory plasmas, including laser-plasma and beam-plasma interactions. Generalizations to self-focusing, collapse, and strong turbulence of waves in other systems are also discussed, including nonlinear optics, solid-state systems, magnetized auroral and astrophysical plasmas, and deep-water waves. The review ends with a summary of the main ideas of wave collapse and strong-turbulence theory, a collection of open questions in the field, and a brief discussion of possible future research directions. copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

  1. Existence of solutions to fractional boundary-value problems with a parameter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ya-Ning Li

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This article concerns the existence of solutions to the fractional boundary-value problem $$displaylines{ -frac{d}{dt} ig(frac{1}{2} {}_0D_t^{-eta}+ frac{1}{2}{}_tD_{T}^{-eta}igu'(t=lambda u(t+abla F(t,u(t,quad hbox{a.e. } tin[0,T], cr u(0=0,quad u(T=0. }$$ First for the eigenvalue problem associated with it, we prove that there is a sequence of positive and increasing real eigenvalues; a characterization of the first eigenvalue is also given. Then under different assumptions on the nonlinearity F(t,u, we show the existence of weak solutions of the problem when $lambda$ lies in various intervals. Our main tools are variational methods and critical point theorems.

  2. Fragmented metastable states exist in an attractive bose-einstein condensate for atom numbers well above the critical number of the Gross-Pitaevskii theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cederbaum, Lorenz S; Streltsov, Alexej I; Alon, Ofir E

    2008-02-01

    It is well known that attractive condensates do not posses a stable ground state in three dimensions. The widely used Gross-Pitaevskii theory predicts the existence of metastable states up to some critical number N(cr)(GP) of atoms. It is demonstrated here that fragmented metastable states exist for atom numbers well above N(cr)(GP). The fragments are strongly overlapping in space. The results are obtained and analyzed analytically as well as numerically. The implications are discussed.

  3. Fermion bag approach to the sign problem in strongly coupled lattice QED with Wilson fermions

    OpenAIRE

    Chandrasekharan, Shailesh; Li, Anyi

    2010-01-01

    We explore the sign problem in strongly coupled lattice QED with one flavor of Wilson fermions in four dimensions using the fermion bag formulation. We construct rules to compute the weight of a fermion bag and show that even though the fermions are confined into bosons, fermion bags with negative weights do exist. By classifying fermion bags as either simple or complex, we find numerical evidence that complex bags with positive and negative weights come with almost equal probabilities and th...

  4. On Drift Effects in Velocity and Displacement of Greek Uncorrected Digital Strong Motion Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skarlatoudis, A.; Margaris, B.

    2005-12-01

    Fifty years after the first installation of analog accelerographs, digital instruments recording the strong-motion came in operation. Their advantages comparing to the analog ones are obvious and they have been described in detail in several works. Nevertheless it has been pointed out that velocity and displacement values derived from several accelerograms, recorded in various strong earthquakes worldwide (e.g. 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan, Hector Mine, 2002 Denali) by digital instruments, are plagued by drifts when only a simple baseline correction derived from the pre-event portion of the record is removed. In Greece a significant number of accelerographic networks and arrays have been deployed covering the whole area. Digital accelerographs now constitute a significant part of the National Strong Motion network of the country. Detailed analyses of the data processing of accelerograms recorded by digital instruments exhibited that the same drifts exist in the Greek strong motion database. In this work, a methodology proposed and described in various articles (Boore, 2001; 2003; 2005) for removing the aforementioned drifts of the accelerograms is applied. It is also attempted a careful look of the nature of the drifts for understanding the noise characteristics relative to the signal. The intrinsic behaviour of signal to noise ratio is crucial for the adequacy of baseline corrections applied on digital uncorrected accelerograms. Velocities and displacements of the uncorrected and corrected accelerograms are compared and the drift effects in the Fourier and response spectra are presented.

  5. Magnetic ordering in tetragonal FeS: Evidence for strong itinerant spin fluctuations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kwon, K.D.; Refson, K.; Bone, S.; Qiao, R.; Yang, W.; Liu, Z.; Sposito, G.

    2010-11-01

    Mackinawite is a naturally occurring layer-type FeS mineral important in biogeochemical cycles and, more recently, in the development of microbial fuel cells. Conflicting results have been published as to the magnetic properties of this mineral, with Moessbauer spectroscopy indicating no magnetic ordering down to 4.2 K but density functional theory (DFT) predicting an antiferromagnetic ground state, similar to the Fe-based high-temperature superconductors with which it is isostructural and for which it is known that magnetism is suppressed by strong itinerant spin fluctuations. We investigated this latter possibility for mackinawite using photoemission spectroscopy, near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, and DFT computations. Our Fe 3{sub s} core-level photoemission spectrum of mackinawite showed a clear exchange-energy splitting (2.9 eV) consistent with a 1 {micro}{sub B} magnetic moment on the Fe ions, while the Fe L-edge x-ray absorption spectrum indicated rather delocalized Fe 3{sub d} electrons in mackinawite similar to those in Fe metal. Our DFT computations demonstrated that the ground state of mackinawite is single-stripe antiferromagnetic, with an Fe magnetic moment (2.7 {micro}{sub B}) that is significantly larger than the experimental estimate and has a strong dependence on the S height and lattice parameters. All of these trends signal the existence of strong itinerant spin fluctuations. If spin fluctuations prove to be mediators of electron pairing, we conjecture that mackinawite may be one of the simplest Fe-based superconductors.

  6. Strong Wilson polygons from the lodge of free and bound mesons

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bonini, Alfredo; Fioravanti, Davide [Sezione INFN di Bologna, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna,Via Irnerio 46, 40126 Bologna (Italy); Piscaglia, Simone [Dipartimento di Fisica and INFN, Università di Torino,Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Torino (Italy); Rossi, Marco [Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università della Calabria and INFN, Gruppo collegato di Cosenza,Arcavacata di Rende, 87036 Cosenza (Italy)

    2016-04-05

    Previously predicted by the S-matrix bootstrap of the excitations over the GKP quantum vacuum, the appearance of a new particle at strong coupling — formed by one fermion and one anti-fermion — is here confirmed: this two-dimensional meson shows up, along with its infinite tower of bound states, while analysing the fermionic contributions to the Operator Product Expansion (collinear regime) of the Wilson null polygon loop. Moreover, its existence, free and bound, turns out to be a powerful idea in re-summing all the contributions (at large coupling) for a general n-gon (n≥6) to a Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz, which is proven to be equivalent to the known one and suggests new structures for a special Y-system.

  7. Baryon-baryon bound states from first principles in 3+1 lattice QCD with two flavors and strong coupling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faria da Veiga, Paulo A.; O'Carroll, Michael

    2006-01-01

    We determine baryon-baryon bound states in (3+1)-dimensional SU(3) lattice QCD with two flavors, 4x4 spin matrices, and in an imaginary time formulation. For small hopping parameter κ>0 and large glueball mass (strong coupling), we show the existence of three-quark isospin 1/2 particles (proton and neutron) and isospin 3/2 baryons (delta particles), with asymptotic masses -3lnκ and isolated dispersion curves. Baryon-baryon bound states of isospin zero are found with binding energy of order κ 2 , using a ladder approximation to a lattice Bethe-Salpeter equation. The dominant baryon-baryon interaction is an energy-independent spatial range-one attractive potential with an O(κ 2 ) strength. There is also attraction arising from gauge field correlations associated with six overlapping bonds, but it is counterbalanced by Pauli repulsion to give a vanishing zero-range potential. The overall range-one potential results from a quark, antiquark exchange with no meson exchange interpretation; the repulsive or attractive nature of the interaction depends on the isospin and spin of the two-baryon state

  8. A continental view of pine-associated ectomycorrhizal fungal spore banks: a quiescent functional guild with a strong biogeographic pattern.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glassman, Sydney I; Peay, Kabir G; Talbot, Jennifer M; Smith, Dylan P; Chung, Judy A; Taylor, John W; Vilgalys, Rytas; Bruns, Thomas D

    2015-03-01

    Ecologists have long acknowledged the importance of seed banks; yet, despite the fact that many plants rely on mycorrhizal fungi for survival and growth, the structure of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal spore banks remains poorly understood. The primary goal of this study was to assess the geographic structure in pine-associated ECM fungal spore banks across the North American continent. Soils were collected from 19 plots in forests across North America. Fresh soils were pyrosequenced for fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) amplicons. Adjacent soil cores were dried and bioassayed with pine seedlings, and colonized roots were pyrosequenced to detect resistant propagules of ECM fungi. The results showed that ECM spore banks correlated strongly with biogeographic location, but not with the identity of congeneric plant hosts. Minimal community overlap was found between resident ECM fungi vs those in spore banks, and spore bank assemblages were relatively simple and dominated by Rhizopogon, Wilcoxina, Cenococcum, Thelephora, Tuber, Laccaria and Suillus. Similar to plant seed banks, ECM fungal spore banks are, in general, depauperate, and represent a small and rare subset of the mature forest soil fungal community. Yet, they may be extremely important in fungal colonization after large-scale disturbances such as clear cuts and forest fires. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

  9. FOUCAULT: uma introdução às artes da existência

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ramon Taniguchi Piretti Brandão

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Em seus últimos estudos, Foucault se debruçou sobre a questão do cuidado de si, retornando à Antiguidade Clássica para [re]pensar a ética moderna nos termos de uma ontologia crítica do momento presente. O autor nos revela que o processo de subjetivação do indivíduo, na tomada de uma posição ética, caminha na direção de uma estética da vida. Assim, a ética em Foucault apresenta-se como estética da existência, como liberdade possível no fazer-se existir. Dizer-a-verdade a si próprio, desprender-se de si mesmo, estilizar a vida, num processo de constituição moral, caracterizam, fortemente, a estética da existência foucaultiana. Palavras-chave: Estética; Ética; Artes da Existência; Cuidado de si; Ontologia.   FOUCAULT: Introduction to the art of the existence ABSTRACT In his later studies, Foucault addressed the issue of self-care, returning to Classical Antiquity to re-think the modern ethics in terms of a critical ontology of the present moment. The author tells us that the individual's subjective process, in making an ethical position, walks toward an aesthetics of life. Thus, ethical Foucault presents as aesthetics of existence as possible freedom in making up exists. Tell the truth to yourself, loosen up yourself, stylize life, a moral constitution process, characterize strongly the Foucault’s aesthetics of existence. Keywords: Esthetics; Ethics; Art of the Existence; Self Care; Ontology.   FOUCAULT: Una introducción a las artes de la existencia RESUMEN En sus últimos estudios, Foucault abordó la cuestión de auto-cuidado, volviendo a la Antiguedad Clásica a replantear la ética moderna en términos de una ontologia crítica de la actualidad. El autor nos dice que proceso subjetivo del individuo, en la toma de una posición ética, se mueve hasta una estética de la vida. Así, la ética de Foucault se presenta como una estética de la existencia, como liberdad posible en la existencia. Decir la verdad a s

  10. Sources of Discrimination and Their Associations With Health in Sexual Minority Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Figueroa, Wilson S; Zoccola, Peggy M

    2016-06-01

    Health disparities exist between sexual minorities and heterosexuals. These health disparities may be due to stressful social situations and environments that are created by discrimination. The current study recruited 277 sexual minorities to complete an online survey to examine the effects of discrimination on health. Discrimination from family and friends, compared to non-family and friends, was found to be more strongly associated with poorer health. This effect was partially statistically mediated by perceived stress reactivity. Findings from this study highlight the importance of distinguishing between different sources of discrimination when examining the effect of discrimination on health in sexual minority adults.

  11. Sensitive detection of pre-existing BCR-ABL kinase domain mutations in CD34+ cells of newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia patients is associated with imatinib resistance: implications in the post-imatinib era.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zafar Iqbal

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: BCR-ABL kinase domain mutations are infrequently detected in newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML patients. Recent studies indicate the presence of pre-existing BCR-ABL mutations in a higher percentage of CML patients when CD34+ stem/progenitor cells are investigated using sensitive techniques, and these mutations are associated with imatinib resistance and disease progression. However, such studies were limited to smaller number of patients. METHODS: We investigated BCR-ABL kinase domain mutations in CD34+ cells from 100 chronic-phase CML patients by multiplex allele-specific PCR and sequencing at diagnosis. Mutations were re-investigated upon manifestation of imatinib resistance using allele-specific PCR and direct sequencing of BCR-ABL kinase domain. RESULTS: Pre-existing BCR-ABL mutations were detected in 32/100 patients and included F311L, M351T, and T315I. After a median follow-up of 30 months (range 8-48, all patients with pre-existing BCR-ABL mutations exhibited imatinib resistance. Of the 68 patients without pre-existing BCR-ABL mutations, 24 developed imatinib resistance; allele-specific PCR and BCR-ABL kinase domain sequencing detected mutations in 22 of these patients. All 32 patients with pre-existing BCR-ABL mutations had the same mutations after manifestation of imatinib-resistance. In imatinib-resistant patients without pre-existing BCR-ABL mutations, we detected F311L, M351T, Y253F, and T315I mutations. All imatinib-resistant patients except T315I and Y253F mutations responded to imatinib dose escalation. CONCLUSION: Pre-existing BCR-ABL mutations can be detected in a substantial number of chronic-phase CML patients by sensitive allele-specific PCR technique using CD34+ cells. These mutations are associated with imatinib resistance if affecting drug binding directly or indirectly. After the recent approval of nilotinib, dasatinib, bosutinib and ponatinib for treatment of chronic myeloid

  12. Electric quadrupole moments and strong interaction effects in pionic atoms of 165Ho, 175Lu, 176Lu, 179Hf and 181Ta

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olaniyi, B.; Shor, A.; Cheng, S.C.; Dugan, G.; Wu, C.S.

    1981-05-01

    The effective quadrupole moments Q sub(eff) of the nuclei of 165 Ho, 175 Lu, 176 Lu, 179 Hf and 181 Ta were accurately measured by detecting the pionic atom 5g-4f x-rays of the elements. The spectroscopic quadrupole moments, Q sub(spec), were obtained by correcting Q sub(eff) for nuclear finite size effect, distortion of the pion wave function by the pion-nucleus strong interaction, and contribution to the energy level splittings by the strong interaction. The intrinsic quadrupole moments, Q 0 , were obtained by projecting Q sub(spec) into the frame of reference fixed on the nucleus. The shift, epsilon 0 , and broadening, GAMMA 0 , of the 4f energy level due to the strong interactions between the pion and the nucleons for all the elements were also measured. Theoretical values of epsilon 0 and GAMMA 0 were calculated and compared to the experimental values. The measured values of Q 0 were compared with the existing results in muonic and pionic atoms. The measured values of epsilon 0 and GAMMA 0 were also compared with existing values. (auth)

  13. A capsule/lipopolysaccharide/MLST genotype D/L6/ST11 of Pasteurella multocida is likely to be strongly associated with swine respiratory disease in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Zhong; Wang, Haonan; Liang, Wan; Chen, Yibao; Tang, Xibiao; Chen, Huanchun; Wu, Bin

    2018-01-01

    Pasteurella multocida is a leading cause of respiratory disease in pigs worldwide. In this study, we determined the genetic characteristics of 115 P. multocida isolates from the lungs of pigs with respiratory disease in China in 2015 using capsular typing, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) genotyping, and virulence genotyping based on the detection of virulence-associated genes. The results showed that the isolates belonged to three capsular types: A (49.6%), D (46.1%), and nontypable (4.3%); and two LPS genotypes: L3 (22.6%) and L6 (77.4%). When combining the capsular types with the LPS genotypes, a genotype group D: L6 (46.1%) was the most prevalent among the strains. Among the 23 virulence-associated genes detected in this study, a small number of them displayed a certain level of "genotype-preference". We found that pfhA, hgbA, and hgbB had a close association with P. multocida LPS genotypes, while tadD was more associated with P. multocida capsular types. In addition, multilocus sequence typing (MLST) on 40 P. multocida isolates identified four sequence types: ST3, ST10, ST11, and ST16, and the distribution of ST11 was significantly higher than the other MLST genotypes. Interestingly, all of the ST11 isolates detected in this study were genotype D: L6 strains and they were 100% positive for hgbB. Our data suggest that a capsule/LPS/MLST genotype D/L6/ST11 is likely to be strongly associated with respiratory clinical manifestation of the disease in pigs.

  14. Nanoparticle interactions with co-existing contaminants: joint toxicity, bioaccumulation and risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Rui; Lin, Daohui; Zhu, Lizhong; Majumdar, Sanghamitra; White, Jason C; Gardea-Torresdey, Jorge L; Xing, Baoshan

    2017-06-01

    With their growing production and application, engineered nanoparticles (NPs) are increasingly discharged into the environment. The released NPs can potentially interact with pre-existing contaminants, leading to biological effects (bioaccumulation and/or toxicity) that are poorly understood. Most studies on NPs focus on single analyte exposure; the existing literature on joint toxicity of NPs and co-existing contaminants is rather limited but beginning to develop rapidly. This is the first review paper evaluating the current state of knowledge regarding the joint effects of NPs and co-contaminants. Here, we review: (1) methods for investigating and evaluating joint effects of NPs and co-contaminants; (2) simultaneous toxicities from NPs co-exposed with organic contaminants, metal/metalloid ions, dissolved organic matter (DOM), inorganic ligands and additional NPs; and (3) the influence of NPs co-exposure on the bioaccumulation of organic contaminants and heavy metal ions, as well as the influence of contaminants on NPs bioaccumulation. In addition, future research needs are discussed so as to better understand risk associated with NPs-contaminant co-exposure.

  15. Wingate Test is a Strong Predictor of 1500m Performance in Elite Speed Skaters

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hofman, Nico; Orie, Jac; Hoozemans, Marco J M; Foster Jr., Carl; de Koning, Jos J

    2017-01-01

    Wingate test scores are strongly associated with anaerobic capacity in athletes involved in speed-endurance sports. In speed skating Wingate results are known to predict performance cross-sectionally, but have not been investigated relative to their ability to predict performance longitudinally.

  16. Characterization of N-acylhomoserine lactone-degrading bacteria associated with the Zingiber officinale (ginger rhizosphere: Co-existence of quorum quenching and quorum sensing in Acinetobacter and Burkholderia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chhabra Siri

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Cell-to-cell communication (quorum sensing (QS co-ordinates bacterial behaviour at a population level. Consequently the behaviour of a natural multi-species community is likely to depend at least in part on co-existing QS and quorum quenching (QQ activities. Here we sought to discover novel N-acylhomoserine lactone (AHL-dependent QS and QQ strains by investigating a bacterial community associated with the rhizosphere of ginger (Zingiber officinale growing in the Malaysian rainforest. Results By using a basal growth medium containing N-(3-oxohexanoylhomoserine lactone (3-oxo-C6-HSL as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen, the ginger rhizosphere associated bacteria were enriched for strains with AHL-degrading capabilities. Three isolates belonging to the genera Acinetobacter (GG2, Burkholderia (GG4 and Klebsiella (Se14 were identified and selected for further study. Strains GG2 and Se14 exhibited the broadest spectrum of AHL-degrading activities via lactonolysis while GG4 reduced 3-oxo-AHLs to the corresponding 3-hydroxy compounds. In GG2 and GG4, QQ was found to co-exist with AHL-dependent QS and GG2 was shown to inactivate both self-generated and exogenously supplied AHLs. GG2, GG4 and Se14 were each able to attenuate virulence factor production in both human and plant pathogens. Conclusions Collectively our data show that ginger rhizosphere bacteria which make and degrade a wide range of AHLs are likely to play a collective role in determining the QS-dependent phenotype of a polymicrobial community.

  17. Community-Level Sanitation Coverage More Strongly Associated with Child Growth and Household Drinking Water Quality than Access to a Private Toilet in Rural Mali

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-01-01

    Sanitation access can provide positive externalities; for example, safe disposal of feces by one household prevents disease transmission to households nearby. However, little empirical evidence exists to characterize the potential health benefits from sanitation externalities. This study investigated the effect of community sanitation coverage versus individual household sanitation access on child health and drinking water quality. Using a census of 121 villages in rural Mali, we analyzed the association of community latrine coverage (defined by a 200 m radius surrounding a household) and individual household latrine ownership with child growth and household stored water quality. Child height-for-age had a significant and positive linear relationship with community latrine coverage, while child weight-for-age and household water quality had nonlinear relationships that leveled off above 60% coverage (p water quality were not associated with individual household latrine ownership. The relationship between community latrine coverage and child height was strongest among households without a latrine; for these households, each 10% increase in latrine coverage was associated with a 0.031 (p-value = 0.040) increase in height-for-age z-score. In this study, the level of sanitation access of surrounding households was more important than private latrine access for protecting water quality and child health. PMID:28514143

  18. Collaborative project: research on strongly coupled plasmas. Final technical report for period July 15, 1998--July 14, 2002

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Golden, Kenneth I.

    2002-01-01

    The main research accomplishments/findings of the project were the following: (1) Publication of an in-depth review article in Physics of Plasmas on the quasilocalized charge approximation (QLCA) in strongly coupled plasma physics and its application to a variety of Coulomb systems: the model one-component plasma in three and two dimensions, binary ionic mixtures, charged particle bilayers, and laboratory dusty plasmas. (2) In the strongly coupled Coulomb liquid phase, the physical basis of the QLCA, namely, the caging of particles trapped in slowly fluctuating local potential minima, is supported by molecular dynamics simulation of the classical three-dimensional one-component plasma. (3) The QLCA theory, when applied to the analysis of the collective modes in strongly coupled charged particle bilayers, predicts the existence of a remarkable long-wavelength energy gap in the out-of-phase excitation spectrum. More recent theoretical calculations based on the three principal frequency-moment sum rules reveal that the gap persists for arbitrary coupling strengths and over the entire classical to quantum domain all the way down to zero temperature. The existence of the energy gap has now been confirmed in a molecular dynamics simulation of the charged particle bilayer. (4) New compressibility and third-frequency-moment sum rules for multilayer plasmas were formulated and applied to the analysis of the dynamical structure function of charged particle bilayers and superlattices. (5) An equivalent of the Debye-Huckel weak coupling equilibrium theory for classical charged particle bilayer and superlattice plasmas was formulated. (6) The quadratic fluctuation-dissipation theorem (QFDT) for layered classical plasmas was formulated. (7) The QFDT was applied to a powerful kinetic theory-based description of the density-density response function and long-wavelength plasma mode behavior in strongly coupled two-dimensional Coulomb fluids in the weakly degenerate quantum domain

  19. The association of pain and depression in preadolescent girls: moderation by race and pubertal stage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keenan, Kate; Hipwell, Alison E; Hinze, Amanda E; Babinski, Dara E

    2009-08-01

    To test whether an association between pain response and depression in females is present during preadolescence using a controlled pain stimulus and a clinically relevant assessment of depressive symptoms. In a sample of 232 girls, pain threshold and tolerance were assessed at age 10 years using the cold pressor task, and a diagnostic interview was used to assess depression symptoms at 10 and 11 years of age. Response to pain at age 10 was associated with depressive symptoms at ages 10 and 11; race and pubertal stage moderated the association. Pain response and depression were more strongly associated among girls who had reached advanced stages of pubertal development and among European American girls. The results add to the existing literature on the co-occurrence of depression and pain by demonstrating modest but consistent concurrent and prospective associations between response to pain and depression among girls during preadolescence.

  20. Strong-field dissociation dynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DiMauro, L.F.; Yang, Baorui.

    1993-01-01

    The strong-field dissociation behavior of diatomic molecules is examined under two distinctive physical scenarios. In the first scenario, the dissociation of the isolated hydrogen and deuterium molecular ions is discussed. The dynamics of above-threshold dissociation (ATD) are investigated over a wide range of green and infrared intensities and compared to a dressed-state model. The second situation arises when strong-field neutral dissociation is followed by ionization of the atomic fragments. The study results in a direct measure of the atomic fragment's ac-Stark shift by observing the intensity-dependent shifts in the electron or nuclear fragment kinetic energy. 8 figs., 14 refs

  1. Strong Stationary Duality for Diffusion Processes

    OpenAIRE

    Fill, James Allen; Lyzinski, Vince

    2014-01-01

    We develop the theory of strong stationary duality for diffusion processes on compact intervals. We analytically derive the generator and boundary behavior of the dual process and recover a central tenet of the classical Markov chain theory in the diffusion setting by linking the separation distance in the primal diffusion to the absorption time in the dual diffusion. We also exhibit our strong stationary dual as the natural limiting process of the strong stationary dual sequence of a well ch...

  2. Mental health care and average happiness: strong effect in developed nations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Touburg, Giorgio; Veenhoven, Ruut

    2015-07-01

    Mental disorder is a main cause of unhappiness in modern society and investment in mental health care is therefore likely to add to average happiness. This prediction was checked in a comparison of 143 nations around 2005. Absolute investment in mental health care was measured using the per capita number of psychiatrists and psychologists working in mental health care. Relative investment was measured using the share of mental health care in the total health budget. Average happiness in nations was measured with responses to survey questions about life-satisfaction. Average happiness appeared to be higher in countries that invest more in mental health care, both absolutely and relative to investment in somatic medicine. A data split by level of development shows that this difference exists only among developed nations. Among these nations the link between mental health care and happiness is quite strong, both in an absolute sense and compared to other known societal determinants of happiness. The correlation between happiness and share of mental health care in the total health budget is twice as strong as the correlation between happiness and size of the health budget. A causal effect is likely, but cannot be proved in this cross-sectional analysis.

  3. Global existence and large time asymptotic behavior of strong solutions to the Cauchy problem of 2D density-dependent Navier–Stokes equations with vacuum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lü, Boqiang; Shi, Xiaoding; Zhong, Xin

    2018-06-01

    We are concerned with the Cauchy problem of the two-dimensional (2D) nonhomogeneous incompressible Navier–Stokes equations with vacuum as far-field density. It is proved that if the initial density decays not too slow at infinity, the 2D Cauchy problem of the density-dependent Navier–Stokes equations on the whole space admits a unique global strong solution. Note that the initial data can be arbitrarily large and the initial density can contain vacuum states and even have compact support. Furthermore, we also obtain the large time decay rates of the spatial gradients of the velocity and the pressure, which are the same as those of the homogeneous case.

  4. Existence and smoothness of solutions to second initial boundary value problems for Schrodinger systems in cylinders with non-smooth bases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nguyen Manh Hung

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we consider the second initial boundary value problem for strongly general Schrodinger systems in both the finite and the infinite cylinders $Q_T, 0existence, uniqueness and smoothness with respect to time variable of generalized solution of this problem are given.

  5. Calculating hadronic properties in strong QCD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pennington, M.R.

    1996-01-01

    This talk gives a brief review of the progress that has been made in calculating the properties of hadrons in strong QCD. In keeping with this meeting I will concentrate on those properties that can be studied with electromagnetic probes. Though perturbative QCD is highly successful, it only applies in a limited kinematic regime, where hard scattering occur, and the quarks move in the interaction region as if they are free, pointlike objects. However, the bulk of strong interactions are governed by the long distance regime, where the strong interaction is strong. It is this regime of length scales of the order of a Fermi, that determines the spectrum of light hadrons and their properties. The calculation of these properties requires an understanding of non-perturbative QCD, of confinement and chiral symmetry breaking. (author)

  6. Seismic dynamics in advance and after the recent strong earthquakes in Italy and New Zealand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nekrasova, A.; Kossobokov, V. G.

    2017-12-01

    We consider seismic events as a sequence of avalanches in self-organized system of blocks-and-faults of the Earth lithosphere and characterize earthquake series with the distribution of the control parameter, η = τ × 10B × (5-M) × L C of the Unified Scaling Law for Earthquakes, USLE (where τ is inter-event time, B is analogous to the Gutenberg-Richter b-value, and C is fractal dimension of seismic locus). A systematic analysis of earthquake series in Central Italy and New Zealand, 1993-2017, suggests the existence, in a long-term, of different rather steady levels of seismic activity characterized with near constant values of η, which, in mid-term, intermittently switch at times of transitions associated with the strong catastrophic events. On such a transition, seismic activity, in short-term, may follow different scenarios with inter-event time scaling of different kind, including constant, logarithmic, power law, exponential rise/decay or a mixture of those. The results do not support the presence of universality in seismic energy release. The observed variability of seismic activity in advance and after strong (M6.0+) earthquakes in Italy and significant (M7.0+) earthquakes in New Zealand provides important constraints on modelling realistic earthquake sequences by geophysicists and can be used to improve local seismic hazard assessments including earthquake forecast/prediction methodologies. The transitions of seismic regime in Central Italy and New Zealand started in 2016 are still in progress and require special attention and geotechnical monitoring. It would be premature to make any kind of definitive conclusions on the level of seismic hazard which is evidently high at this particular moment of time in both regions. The study supported by the Russian Science Foundation Grant No.16-17-00093.

  7. Strong Signature of Natural Selection within an FHIT Intron Implicated in Prostate Cancer Risk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Yan; Larson, Garrett; Rivas, Guillermo; Lundberg, Cathryn; Geller, Louis; Ouyang, Ching; Weitzel, Jeffrey; Archambeau, John; Slater, Jerry; Daly, Mary B.; Benson, Al B.; Kirkwood, John M.; O'Dwyer, Peter J.; Sutphen, Rebecca; Stewart, James A.; Johnson, David; Nordborg, Magnus; Krontiris, Theodore G.

    2008-01-01

    Previously, a candidate gene linkage approach on brother pairs affected with prostate cancer identified a locus of prostate cancer susceptibility at D3S1234 within the fragile histidine triad gene (FHIT), a tumor suppressor that induces apoptosis. Subsequent association tests on 16 SNPs spanning approximately 381 kb surrounding D3S1234 in Americans of European descent revealed significant evidence of association for a single SNP within intron 5 of FHIT. In the current study, re-sequencing and genotyping within a 28.5 kb region surrounding this SNP further delineated the association with prostate cancer risk to a 15 kb region. Multiple SNPs in sequences under evolutionary constraint within intron 5 of FHIT defined several related haplotypes with an increased risk of prostate cancer in European-Americans. Strong associations were detected for a risk haplotype defined by SNPs 138543, 142413, and 152494 in all cases (Pearson's χ2 = 12.34, df 1, P = 0.00045) and for the homozygous risk haplotype defined by SNPs 144716, 142413, and 148444 in cases that shared 2 alleles identical by descent with their affected brothers (Pearson's χ2 = 11.50, df 1, P = 0.00070). In addition to highly conserved sequences encompassing SNPs 148444 and 152413, population studies revealed strong signatures of natural selection for a 1 kb window covering the SNP 144716 in two human populations, the European American (π = 0.0072, Tajima's D = 3.31, 14 SNPs) and the Japanese (π = 0.0049, Fay & Wu's H = 8.05, 14 SNPs), as well as in chimpanzees (Fay & Wu's H = 8.62, 12 SNPs). These results strongly support the involvement of the FHIT intronic region in an increased risk of prostate cancer. PMID:18953408

  8. Comparison of strongly heat-driven flow codes for unsaturated media

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Updegraff, C.D.

    1989-08-01

    Under the sponsorship of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is developing a performance assessment methodology for the analysis of long-term disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in unsaturated welded tuff. As part of this effort, SNL evaluated existing strongly heat-driven flow computer codes for simulating ground-water flow in unsaturated media. The three codes tested, NORIA, PETROS, and TOUGH, were compared against a suite of problems for which analytical and numerical solutions or experimental results exist. The problems were selected to test the abilities of the codes to simulate situations ranging from simple, uncoupled processes, such as two-phase flow or heat transfer, to fully coupled processes, such as vaporization caused by high temperatures. In general, all three codes were found to be difficult to use because of (1) built-in time stepping criteria, (2) the treatment of boundary conditions, and (3) handling of evaporation/condensation problems. A drawback of the study was that adequate problems related to expected repository conditions were not available in the literature. Nevertheless, the results of this study suggest the need for thorough investigations of the impact of heat on the flow field in the vicinity of an unsaturated HLW repository. Recommendations are to develop a new flow code combining the best features of these three codes and eliminating the worst ones. 19 refs., 49 figs

  9. A conjugate gradient method with descent properties under strong Wolfe line search

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zull, N.; ‘Aini, N.; Shoid, S.; Ghani, N. H. A.; Mohamed, N. S.; Rivaie, M.; Mamat, M.

    2017-09-01

    The conjugate gradient (CG) method is one of the optimization methods that are often used in practical applications. The continuous and numerous studies conducted on the CG method have led to vast improvements in its convergence properties and efficiency. In this paper, a new CG method possessing the sufficient descent and global convergence properties is proposed. The efficiency of the new CG algorithm relative to the existing CG methods is evaluated by testing them all on a set of test functions using MATLAB. The tests are measured in terms of iteration numbers and CPU time under strong Wolfe line search. Overall, this new method performs efficiently and comparable to the other famous methods.

  10. Semi-strong split domination in graphs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anwar Alwardi

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Given a graph $G = (V,E$, a dominating set $D subseteq V$ is called a semi-strong split dominating set of $G$ if $|V setminus D| geq 1$ and the maximum degree of the subgraph induced by $V setminus D$ is 1. The minimum cardinality of a semi-strong split dominating set (SSSDS of G is the semi-strong split domination number of G, denoted $gamma_{sss}(G$. In this work, we introduce the concept and prove several results regarding it.

  11. Existing Steel Railway Bridges Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vičan, Josef; Gocál, Jozef; Odrobiňák, Jaroslav; Koteš, Peter

    2016-12-01

    The article describes general principles and basis of evaluation of existing railway bridges based on the concept of load-carrying capacity determination. Compared to the design of a new bridge, the modified reliability level for existing bridges evaluation should be considered due to implementation of the additional data related to bridge condition and behaviour obtained from regular inspections. Based on those data respecting the bridge remaining lifetime, a modification of partial safety factors for actions and materials could be respected in the bridge evaluation process. A great attention is also paid to the specific problems of determination of load-caring capacity of steel railway bridges in service. Recommendation for global analysis and methodology for existing steel bridge superstructure load-carrying capacity determination are described too.

  12. Using ambient lighting in persuasive communication : the role of pre-existing color associations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lu, S.; Ham, J.R.C.; Midden, C.J.H.; Spagnolli, A.; Chittaro, L.; Gamberini, L.

    2014-01-01

    Earlier research indicated that ambient persuasive lighting can have persuasive effects on energy-efficiency behavior. However, why would this kind of ambient feedback be effective? The current research investigated the influence of the strength of associations (of colors used for giving feedback)

  13. Anomalous transport phenomena in Fermi liquids with strong magnetic fluctuations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kontani, Hiroshi

    2008-01-01

    In this paper, we present recent developments in the theory of transport phenomena based on the Fermi liquid theory. In conventional metals, various transport coefficients are scaled according to the quasiparticles relaxation time, τ, which implies that the relaxation time approximation (RTA) holds well. However, such a simple scaling does not hold in many strongly correlated electron systems. The most famous example would be high-T c superconductors (HTSCs), where almost all the transport coefficients exhibit a significant deviation from the RTA results. This issue has been one of the most significant unresolved problems in HTSCs for a long time. Similar anomalous transport phenomena have been observed in metals near their antiferromagnetic (AF) quantum critical point (QCP). The main goal of this study is to demonstrate whether the anomalous transport phenomena in HTSC is evidence of a non-Fermi liquid ground state, or just RTA violation in strongly correlated Fermi liquids. Another goal is to establish a unified theory of anomalous transport phenomena in metals with strong magnetic fluctuations. For these purposes, we develop a method for calculating various transport coefficients beyond the RTA by employing field theoretical techniques. In a Fermi liquid, an excited quasiparticle induces other excited quasiparticles by collision, and current due to these excitations is called a current vertex correction (CVC). Landau noticed the existence of CVC first, which is indispensable for calculating transport coefficients in accord with the conservation laws. Here, we develop a transport theory involving resistivity and the Hall coefficient on the basis of the microscopic Fermi liquid theory, by considering the CVC. In nearly AF Fermi liquids, we find that the strong backward scattering due to AF fluctuations induces the CVC with prominent momentum dependence. This feature of the CVC can account for the significant enhancement in the Hall coefficient, magnetoresistance

  14. Type 2 diabetes mellitus susceptibility gene TCF7L2 is strongly associated with hyperglycemia in the Saudi Arabia Population of the eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acharya, S; Al-Elq, A; Al-Nafaie, A; Muzaheed, M; Al-Ali, A

    2015-08-01

    We studied the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs7903146, rs12255372 and rs4506565 in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) susceptibility gene, transcription factor 7 like 2 (TCF7L2) with T2DM among the population of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. In a case-control study, blood samples were collected from 359 T2DM patients and 351 age and sex-matched normoglycemic controls. Genotyping was done by allele specific PCR assay. Our results revealed a strong association between risk T alleles in variants rs12255372 (OR: G/T=1.4233; T/T=2.0395) and rs4506565 (OR: A/T=1.6066; T/T=3.1301) and T2DM among the Saudi population of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. This is the first time that this association has been identified in a Saudi population. However, a common variant, rs7903146, often found to be associated with T2DM in other populations failed to demonstrate any association to T2DM with the present population. These data further strengthens the hypothesis that Saudi populations might carry a distinct risk allele in T2DM susceptibility gene TCF7L2. The present results confirm that rs12255372 and rs4506565 variants of TCF7L2 show an association, but not rs7903146, with T2DM for the Saudi population of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

  15. Strong Coupling Corrections in Quantum Thermodynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perarnau-Llobet, M.; Wilming, H.; Riera, A.; Gallego, R.; Eisert, J.

    2018-03-01

    Quantum systems strongly coupled to many-body systems equilibrate to the reduced state of a global thermal state, deviating from the local thermal state of the system as it occurs in the weak-coupling limit. Taking this insight as a starting point, we study the thermodynamics of systems strongly coupled to thermal baths. First, we provide strong-coupling corrections to the second law applicable to general systems in three of its different readings: As a statement of maximal extractable work, on heat dissipation, and bound to the Carnot efficiency. These corrections become relevant for small quantum systems and vanish in first order in the interaction strength. We then move to the question of power of heat engines, obtaining a bound on the power enhancement due to strong coupling. Our results are exemplified on the paradigmatic non-Markovian quantum Brownian motion.

  16. Seasonal and interannual variability of surface CDOM in the South China Sea associated with El Niño

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Jinfeng; Zhan, Haigang; Du, Yan

    2011-04-01

    Satellite imagery of SeaWiFS from October 1997 to November 2007 is used to investigate the dominant seasonal and interannual variations of the surface light absorption due to Colored Dissolved Organic Materials (CDOM) in the South China Sea (SCS). Results show that the spatial distribution of CDOM mimics the major features of the SCS basin-scale circulation. High values of CDOM are found in upwelling regions like southeast of Vietnam in summer and northwest of Luzon in winter. At a basin scale, CDOM is high in winter when upwelling is strong, solar shortwave radiation and stratification weak, and vertical mixing intense. Opposite conditions exist in spring and summer. Interannual variability of the basin-wide CDOM is characterized by abnormal troughs during the El Niño events. A strong relationship exists between the time series of the first EOF mode (for both winter and summer) and Niño 3.4 Index. Associations of these events with climatic and hydrographic properties (i.e. wind forcing, solar shortwave radiation, Ekman pumping, vertical mixing, sea surface height and temperature) are discussed.

  17. Antimicrobial drug use in food-producing animals and associated human health risks: what, and how strong, is the evidence?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoelzer, Karin; Wong, Nora; Thomas, Joe; Talkington, Kathy; Jungman, Elizabeth; Coukell, Allan

    2017-07-04

    Antimicrobial resistance is a public health threat. Because antimicrobial consumption in food-producing animals contributes to the problem, policies restricting the inappropriate or unnecessary agricultural use of antimicrobial drugs are important. However, this link between agricultural antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance has remained contested by some, with potentially disruptive effects on efforts to move towards the judicious or prudent use of these drugs. The goal of this review is to systematically evaluate the types of evidence available for each step in the causal pathway from antimicrobial use on farms to human public health risk, and to evaluate the strength of evidence within a 'Grades of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation'(GRADE) framework. The review clearly demonstrates that there is compelling scientific evidence available to support each step in the causal pathway, from antimicrobial use on farms to a public health burden caused by infections with resistant pathogens. Importantly, the pathogen, antimicrobial drug and treatment regimen, and general setting (e.g., feed type) can have significant impacts on how quickly resistance emerges or spreads, for how long resistance may persist after antimicrobial exposures cease, and what public health impacts may be associated with antimicrobial use on farms. Therefore an exact quantification of the public health burden attributable to antimicrobial drug use in animal agriculture compared to other sources remains challenging. Even though more research is needed to close existing data gaps, obtain a better understanding of how antimicrobial drugs are actually used on farms or feedlots, and quantify the risk associated with antimicrobial use in animal agriculture, these findings reinforce the need to act now and restrict antibiotic use in animal agriculture to those instances necessary to ensure the health and well-being of the animals.

  18. Strong convergence theorems for uniformly L-Lipschitzian mappings in Banach spaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chidume, C.E.; Ofoedu, E.U.

    2007-07-01

    Let E be a real reflexive Banach space with uniform Gateaux differentiable norm, K be a nonempty bounded closed and convex subset of E , T : K → K be a uniformly L-Lipschitzian mapping such that F (T) := {x element of K : Tx = x} ≠ 0, u element of K be fixed and let {α n } n≥0 and {γ n } n≥0 subset of (0, 1) be such that lim n→∞ α n = 0 = lim n→ ∞ γ n and lim n→ ∞(β n - 1)/ α n = 0, where β n Σ j=0 n λ j and λ j = 1 + α j γ j L. Let S n := (1 - α n γ n )I + α n γ n T n . It is proved that there exists some integer N 0 > 1, such that for each n ≥ N 0 , there exists unique x n element of K such that x n = α n u+(1 -α n ) 1/ (n + 1) Σ j=0 n S j x n . If φ : E → R is defined by φ (y) := LIM n vertical bar vertical bar x n -y vertical bar vertical bar 2 for all y element of E here LIM denotes a Banach limit, vertical bar vertical bar x n - Tx n vertical bar vertical bar → 0 as n → ∞ and K min intersection F (T) ≠ 0, where K min := {x element of E : φ (x) = min (u element of K) φ (u) }, then it is proved that {x n } converges strongly to a fixed point of T. As an application, it is proved that the iterative process, z 0 element of K, z n+1 alpha# n u + (1 - α n ) 1/ (n + 1) Σ j=0 n S j z n , n ≥ 0, under suitable conditions on the iteration parameters, converges strongly to a fixed point of T. (author)

  19. Effect of the existing form of Cu element on the mechanical properties, bio-corrosion and antibacterial properties of Ti-Cu alloys for biomedical application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Erlin; Wang, Xiaoyan; Chen, Mian; Hou, Bing

    2016-12-01

    Ti-Cu alloys have exhibited strong antibacterial ability, but Ti-Cu alloys prepared by different processes showed different antibacterial ability. In order to reveal the controlling mechanism, Ti-Cu alloys with different existing forms of Cu element were prepared in this paper. The effects of the Cu existing form on the microstructure, mechanical, corrosion and antibacterial properties of Ti-Cu alloys have been systematically investigated. Results have shown that the as-cast Ti-Cu alloys showed a higher hardness and mechanical strength as well as a higher antibacterial rate (51-64%) but a relatively lower corrosion resistance than pure titanium. Treatment at 900°C/2h (T4) significantly increased the hardness and the strength, improved the corrosion resistance but had little effect on the antibacterial property. Treatment at 900°C/2h+400°C/12h (T6) increased further the hardness and the mechanical strength, improved the corrosion resistance and but also enhanced the antibacterial rate (>90%) significantly. It was demonstrated that the Cu element in solid solution state showed high strengthening ability but low antibacterial property while Cu element in Ti2Cu phase exhibited strong strengthening ability and strong antibacterial property. Ti2Cu phase played a key role in the antibacterial mechanism. The antibacterial ability of Ti-Cu alloy was strongly proportional to the Cu content and the surface area of Ti2Cu phase. High Cu content and fine Ti2Cu phase would contribute to a high strength and a strong antibacterial ability. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Do Elementary Particles Have an Objective Existence?

    OpenAIRE

    Nissenson, Bilha

    2007-01-01

    The formulation of quantum theory does not comply with the notion of objective existence of elementary particles. Objective existence independent of observation implies the distinguishability of elementary particles. In other words: If elementary particles have an objective existence independent of observations, then they are distinguishable. Or if elementary particles are indistinguishable then matter cannot have existence independent of our observation. This paper presents a simple deductio...

  1. Emerging ST121/agr4 community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA with strong adhesin and cytolytic activities: trigger for MRSA pneumonia and fatal aspiration pneumonia in an influenza-infected elderly

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T.-W. Wan

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The pathogenesis of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA pneumonia in influenza-infected elderly individuals has not yet been elucidated in detail. In the present study, a 92-year-old man infected with influenza developed CA-MRSA pneumonia. His CA-MRSA was an emerging type, originated in ST121/agr4 S. aureus, with diversities of Panton–Valentine leucocidin (PVL−/spat5110/SCCmecV+ versus PVL+/spat159(etc./SCCmec−, but with common virulence potentials of strong adhesin and cytolytic activities. Resistance to erythromycin/clindamycin (inducible-type and gentamicin was detected. Pneumonia improved with the administration of levofloxacin, but with the subsequent development of fatal aspiration pneumonia. Hence, characteristic CA-MRSA with strong adhesin and cytolytic activities triggered influenza-related sequential complications.

  2. Dirac particles in the field of magnetic monopoles and of strong electric charges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schafer, A.; Muller, B.; Greiner, W.

    1985-01-01

    The field of a magnetic pointlike monopole acts in a similar way on a charged Dirac particle as the field of a very strong electric point charge. To explore this parallel it is constructed a field solution for an extended magnetic-charge distribution. In contrast to what is found for extended electric charges, the Hamiltonian remains nonself-adjoint for an extended magnetic monopole. This suggests that there exist a fundamental difference between the two cases. In particular, the appearance of undefined states for point monopoles is not a consequence of the mere strength of the magnetic-monopole charge, which has a minimum value fixed by Dirac's quantization condition

  3. Existing data sources for clinical epidemiology: the Danish Patient Compensation Association database

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tilma J

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Jens Tilma,1 Mette Nørgaard,1 Kim Lyngby Mikkelsen,2 Søren Paaske Johnsen1 1Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, 2Danish Patient Compensation Association, Copenhagen, Denmark Abstract: Any patient in the Danish health care system who experiences a treatment injury can make a compensation claim to the Danish Patient Compensation Association (DPCA free of charge. The aim of this paper is to describe the DPCA database as a source of data for epidemiological research. Data to DPCA are collected prospectively on all claims and include information on patient factors and health records, system factors, and administrative data. Approval of claims is based on injury due to the principle of treatment below experienced specialist standard or intolerable, unexpected extensiveness of injury. Average processing time of a compensation claim is 6–8 months. Data collection is nationwide and started in 1992. The patient's central registration system number, a unique personal identifier, allows for data linkage to other registries such as the Danish National Patient Registry. The DPCA data are accessible for research following data usage permission and make it possible to analyze all claims or specific subgroups to identify predictors, outcomes, etc. DPCA data have until now been used only in few studies but could be a useful data source in future studies of health care-related injuries. Keywords: public health care, treatment injuries, no-fault compensation, registries, research, Denmark

  4. Urbanization signatures in strong versus weak precipitation over the Pearl River Delta metropolitan regions of China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Weibiao; Chen Sheng; Wen Zhiping; Wang Baomin; Chen Guixing; Sha Weimin; Luo Cong; Feng Yerong

    2011-01-01

    We assess the issues of urban effects on the precipitation over the Pearl River Delta (PRD) metropolitan regions of China. The spatial and temporal variations of strong versus weak precipitation over the PRD and surrounding nonurban areas are investigated. The results show that the urbanization signatures in strong precipitation are significantly different from those in weak precipitation over the urban areas. The PRD experiences more strong precipitation but less weak precipitation compared to surrounding nonurban regions. In addition, the strong precipitation over the PRD displays a pronounced seasonal variation. The seasonality of weak precipitation, however, is much weaker over the PRD compared to the surrounding nonurban regions. Moreover, a strengthening in the precipitation intensity, a reduction in the rainfall frequency and an increase in the convective precipitation as well as the afternoon precipitation are found over the urban areas, which are probably associated with the abundance in strong precipitation and the deficit in weak precipitation over the PRD.

  5. Strong interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Froissart, Marcel

    1976-01-01

    Strong interactions are introduced by their more obvious aspect: nuclear forces. In hadron family, the nucleon octet, OMEGA - decuplet, and quark triply are successively considered. Pion wave having been put at the origin of nuclear forces, low energy phenomena are described, the force being explained as an exchange of structure corresponding to a Regge trajectory in a variable rotating state instead of the exchange of a well defined particle. At high energies the concepts of pomeron, parton and stratons are introduced, pionization and fragmentation are briefly differentiated [fr

  6. Existing Steel Railway Bridges Evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vičan Josef

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The article describes general principles and basis of evaluation of existing railway bridges based on the concept of load-carrying capacity determination. Compared to the design of a new bridge, the modified reliability level for existing bridges evaluation should be considered due to implementation of the additional data related to bridge condition and behaviour obtained from regular inspections. Based on those data respecting the bridge remaining lifetime, a modification of partial safety factors for actions and materials could be respected in the bridge evaluation process. A great attention is also paid to the specific problems of determination of load-caring capacity of steel railway bridges in service. Recommendation for global analysis and methodology for existing steel bridge superstructure load-carrying capacity determination are described too.

  7. A strong comeback

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marier, D.

    1992-01-01

    This article presents the results of a financial rankings survey which show a strong economic activity in the independent energy industry. The topics of the article include advisor turnover, overseas banks, and the increase in public offerings. The article identifies the top project finance investors for new projects and restructurings and rankings for lenders

  8. Reproducibility in Psychological Science: When Do Psychological Phenomena Exist?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seppo E. Iso-Ahola

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Scientific evidence has recently been used to assert that certain psychological phenomena do not exist. Such claims, however, cannot be made because (1 scientific method itself is seriously limited (i.e., it can never prove a negative; (2 non-existence of phenomena would require a complete absence of both logical (theoretical and empirical support; even if empirical support is weak, logical and theoretical support can be strong; (3 statistical data are only one piece of evidence and cannot be used to reduce psychological phenomena to statistical phenomena; and (4 psychological phenomena vary across time, situations and persons. The human mind is unreproducible from one situation to another. Psychological phenomena are not particles that can decisively be tested and discovered. Therefore, a declaration that a phenomenon is not real is not only theoretically and empirically unjustified but runs counter to the propositional and provisional nature of scientific knowledge. There are only “temporary winners” and no “final truths” in scientific knowledge. Psychology is a science of subtleties in human affect, cognition and behavior. Its phenomena fluctuate with conditions and may sometimes be difficult to detect and reproduce empirically. When strictly applied, reproducibility is an overstated and even questionable concept in psychological science. Furthermore, statistical measures (e.g., effect size are poor indicators of the theoretical importance and relevance of phenomena (cf. “deliberate practice” vs. “talent” in expert performance, not to mention whether phenomena are real or unreal. To better understand psychological phenomena, their theoretical and empirical properties should be examined via multiple parameters and criteria. Ten such parameters are suggested.

  9. Reproducibility in Psychological Science: When Do Psychological Phenomena Exist?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iso-Ahola, Seppo E.

    2017-01-01

    Scientific evidence has recently been used to assert that certain psychological phenomena do not exist. Such claims, however, cannot be made because (1) scientific method itself is seriously limited (i.e., it can never prove a negative); (2) non-existence of phenomena would require a complete absence of both logical (theoretical) and empirical support; even if empirical support is weak, logical and theoretical support can be strong; (3) statistical data are only one piece of evidence and cannot be used to reduce psychological phenomena to statistical phenomena; and (4) psychological phenomena vary across time, situations and persons. The human mind is unreproducible from one situation to another. Psychological phenomena are not particles that can decisively be tested and discovered. Therefore, a declaration that a phenomenon is not real is not only theoretically and empirically unjustified but runs counter to the propositional and provisional nature of scientific knowledge. There are only “temporary winners” and no “final truths” in scientific knowledge. Psychology is a science of subtleties in human affect, cognition and behavior. Its phenomena fluctuate with conditions and may sometimes be difficult to detect and reproduce empirically. When strictly applied, reproducibility is an overstated and even questionable concept in psychological science. Furthermore, statistical measures (e.g., effect size) are poor indicators of the theoretical importance and relevance of phenomena (cf. “deliberate practice” vs. “talent” in expert performance), not to mention whether phenomena are real or unreal. To better understand psychological phenomena, their theoretical and empirical properties should be examined via multiple parameters and criteria. Ten such parameters are suggested. PMID:28626435

  10. Strongly disordered superconductors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muttalib, K.A.

    1982-01-01

    We examine some universal effects of strong non-magnetic disorder on the electron-phonon and electron-electron interactions in a superconductor. In particular we explicitly take into account the effect of slow diffusion of electrons in a disordered medium by working in an exact impurity eigenstate representation. We find that the normal diffusion of electrons characterized by a constant diffusion coefficient does not lead to any significant correction to the electron-phonon or the effective electron-electron interactions in a superconductor. We then consider sufficiently strong disorder where Anderson localization of electrons becomes important and determine the effect of localization on the electron-electron interactions. We find that due to localization, the diffusion of electrons becomes anomalous in the sense that the diffusion coefficient becomes scale dependent. This results in an increase in the effective electron-electron interaction with increasing disorder. We propose that this provides a natural explanation for the unusual sensitivity of the transition temperature T/sub c/ of the high T/sub c/ superconductors (T/sub c/ > 10 0 K) to damage effects

  11. Strong Coupling Holography

    CERN Document Server

    Dvali, Gia

    2009-01-01

    We show that whenever a 4-dimensional theory with N particle species emerges as a consistent low energy description of a 3-brane embedded in an asymptotically-flat (4+d)-dimensional space, the holographic scale of high-dimensional gravity sets the strong coupling scale of the 4D theory. This connection persists in the limit in which gravity can be consistently decoupled. We demonstrate this effect for orbifold planes, as well as for the solitonic branes and string theoretic D-branes. In all cases the emergence of a 4D strong coupling scale from bulk holography is a persistent phenomenon. The effect turns out to be insensitive even to such extreme deformations of the brane action that seemingly shield 4D theory from the bulk gravity effects. A well understood example of such deformation is given by large 4D Einstein term in the 3-brane action, which is known to suppress the strength of 5D gravity at short distances and change the 5D Newton's law into the four-dimensional one. Nevertheless, we observe that the ...

  12. <strong>Entrepreneurial Action in Shaping Education for Entrepreneurshipstrong>

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Poul Rind; Kirketerp Linstad, Anne

    entrepreneurship training and education. Neutral assessments of the school have indicated that more than 50 percent of the students graduated from the school has started their own business and furthermore that the students exercise a strong entrepreneurial behaviour (Deichman-Sørensen 1997). Seemingly the school...... also started to pay attention to the apparent success of the KaosPilots. What is the secret of their recipe? In this contribution we want to explore how the KaosPilots form their pedagogical concepts of teaching entrepreneurship and enterprise behaviour....

  13. Strong Stability Preserving Explicit Linear Multistep Methods with Variable Step Size

    KAUST Repository

    Hadjimichael, Yiannis

    2016-09-08

    Strong stability preserving (SSP) methods are designed primarily for time integration of nonlinear hyperbolic PDEs, for which the permissible SSP step size varies from one step to the next. We develop the first SSP linear multistep methods (of order two and three) with variable step size, and prove their optimality, stability, and convergence. The choice of step size for multistep SSP methods is an interesting problem because the allowable step size depends on the SSP coefficient, which in turn depends on the chosen step sizes. The description of the methods includes an optimal step-size strategy. We prove sharp upper bounds on the allowable step size for explicit SSP linear multistep methods and show the existence of methods with arbitrarily high order of accuracy. The effectiveness of the methods is demonstrated through numerical examples.

  14. Impacts of pre-existing ocean cyclonic circulation on sea surface chlorophyll-a concentrations off northeastern Taiwan following episodic typhoon passages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Fanghua; Yao, Yuan; Oey, Leo; Lin, Yanluan

    2017-08-01

    Off northeastern Taiwan, enhancement of sea surface chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration is frequently found after typhoon passages. From 1998 to 2013, 46 typhoon events are analyzed to examine the variations in Chl-a concentration from satellite ocean color data. On average, Chl-a concentration increased by 38% after a typhoon passage. Noticeably, four remarkable Chl-a increases after typhoons coincide with pre-existing oceanic cyclones in the study area. The Chl-a increase is significantly anticorrelated (p typhoons, we conduct a series of numerical experiments to simulate the oceanic response to Typhoon Kaemi (2006) with or without a pre-existing oceanic cyclone, and with or without strong typhoon winds. The results show that the experiment with a pre-existing oceanic cyclone produces the largest upwelling due to cyclone intensification, mainly induced by the positive wind stress curl dipole northeast of Taiwan.

  15. Spontaneous and trigger-associated substorms compared: Electrodynamic parameters in the polar ionosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jun-Ming; Zhang, Bei-Chen; Kamide, Y.; Wu, Zhen-Sen; Hu, Ze-Jun; Yang, Hui-Gen

    2011-01-01

    An attempt is made to study the difference, if any, between the response of the polar ionosphere to spontaneous substorms and that to trigger-associated substorms in terms of electrodynamic parameters including ionospheric current vectors, the electric potential, and the current function. The results show that, in the first approximation, the ionospheric parameters for the two types of substorms are quite similar. It is therefore conceived that spontaneous substorms are not very different from trigger-associated substorms in the development of substorm processes in the magnetosphere-ionosphere system. We demonstrate, however, that spontaneous substorms seem to have a more clearly identifiable growth phase, whereas trigger-associated substorms have a more powerful unloading process. Changes in the current intensity and the electric potential drop across the polar cap in the recovery phase are also quite different from each other. Both the current intensity and the cross-polar cap potential drop show a larger decrease in the recovery phase of trigger-associated substorms, but the potential drop decreases only slightly and the currents in the late morning sector are still strong for spontaneous substorms. We interpret these findings as an indication of the relative importance of the unloading process and the directly driven process in conjunction with the north-south polarity of the interplanetary magnetic field. There still exists a strong directly driven process in the recovery phase of spontaneous substorms. For trigger-associated substorms, however, both the directly driven process and the unloading process become weak after the peak time.

  16. Existence of equilibria in articulated bearings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buscaglia, G.; Ciuperca, I.; Hafidi, I.; Jai, M.

    2007-04-01

    The existence of equilibrium solutions for a lubricated system consisting of an articulated body sliding over a flat plate is considered. Though this configuration is very common (it corresponds to the popular tilting-pad thrust bearings), the existence problem has only been addressed in extremely simplified cases, such as planar sliders of infinite width. Our results show the existence of at least one equilibrium for a quite general class of (nonplanar) slider shapes. We also extend previous results concerning planar sliders.

  17. Promoting calls to a quitline: quantifying the influence of message theme, strong negative emotions and graphic images in television advertisements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farrelly, Matthew C; Davis, Kevin C; Nonnemaker, James M; Kamyab, Kian; Jackson, Christine

    2011-07-01

    To understand the relative effectiveness of television advertisements that differ in their thematic focus and portrayals of negative emotions and/or graphic images in promoting calls to a smokers' quitline. Regression analysis is used to explain variation in quarterly media market-level per smoker calls to the New York State Smokers' Quitline from 2001 to 2009. The primary independent variable is quarterly market-level delivery of television advertisements measured by target audience rating points (TARPs). Advertisements were characterised by their overall objective--promoting cessation, highlighting the dangers of secondhand smoke (SHS) or other--and by their portrayals of strong negative emotions and graphic images. Per smoker call volume is positively correlated with total TARPs (padvertisements are more effective than SHS advertisements in promoting quitline call volume. Advertisements with graphic images only or neither strong negative emotions nor graphic images are associated with higher call volume with similar effect sizes. Call volume was not significantly associated with the number of TARPs for advertisements with strong negative emotions only (p=0.71) or with both graphic images and strong emotions (p=0.09). Exposure to television advertisements is strongly associated with quitline call volume, and both cessation and SHS advertisements can be effective. The use of strong negative emotions in advertisements may be effective in promoting smoking cessation in the population but does not appear to influence quitline call volume. Further research is needed to understand the role of negative emotions in promoting calls to quitlines and cessation more broadly among the majority of smokers who do not call quitlines.

  18. [Research on controlling iron release of desalted water transmitted in existing water distribution system].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Yi-Mei; Liu, Yang; Zhao, Peng; Shan, Jin-Lin; Yang, Suo-Yin; Liu, Wei

    2012-04-01

    Desalted water, with strong corrosion characteristics, would possibly lead to serious "red water" when transmitted and distributed in existing municipal water distribution network. The main reason for red water phenomenon is iron release in water pipes. In order to study the methods of controlling iron release in existing drinking water distribution pipe, tubercle analysis of steel pipe and cast iron pipe, which have served the distribution system for 30-40 years, was carried out, the main construction materials were Fe3O4 and FeOOH; and immersion experiments were carried in more corrosive pipes. Through changing mixing volume of tap water and desalted water, pH, alkalinity, chloride and sulfate, the influence of different water quality indexes on iron release were mainly analyzed. Meanwhile, based on controlling iron content, water quality conditions were established to meet with the safety distribution of desalted water: volume ratio of potable water and desalted water should be higher than or equal to 2, pH was higher than 7.6, alkalinity was higher than 200 mg x L(-1).

  19. Thermal infrared anomalies of several strong earthquakes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Congxin; Zhang, Yuansheng; Guo, Xiao; Hui, Shaoxing; Qin, Manzhong; Zhang, Ying

    2013-01-01

    In the history of earthquake thermal infrared research, it is undeniable that before and after strong earthquakes there are significant thermal infrared anomalies which have been interpreted as preseismic precursor in earthquake prediction and forecasting. In this paper, we studied the characteristics of thermal radiation observed before and after the 8 great earthquakes with magnitude up to Ms7.0 by using the satellite infrared remote sensing information. We used new types of data and method to extract the useful anomaly information. Based on the analyses of 8 earthquakes, we got the results as follows. (1) There are significant thermal radiation anomalies before and after earthquakes for all cases. The overall performance of anomalies includes two main stages: expanding first and narrowing later. We easily extracted and identified such seismic anomalies by method of "time-frequency relative power spectrum." (2) There exist evident and different characteristic periods and magnitudes of thermal abnormal radiation for each case. (3) Thermal radiation anomalies are closely related to the geological structure. (4) Thermal radiation has obvious characteristics in abnormal duration, range, and morphology. In summary, we should be sure that earthquake thermal infrared anomalies as useful earthquake precursor can be used in earthquake prediction and forecasting.

  20. Strongly correlated electrons on two coupled chains

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weihong, Z.; Oitmaa, J.; Hamer, C.J.

    2000-01-01

    Full text: The discovery of materials containing S = 1/2 ions which form a 2-leg ladder structure has led to much current research on ladder systems. Pure spin ladders show an unexpected difference between odd-legged ladders (including the single chain) which are gapless with long-range correlations and even-legged ladders which have a spin gap and short range correlations. Even more interesting behaviour occurs when these systems are doped, creating a system of strongly correlated mobile holes, as in the cuprate superconductors. The simplest models in this context are the Hubbard model and the t-J model. Considerable work has been reported on both of these models, using both numerical calculations and approximate analytic theories. We have used series expansion methods to study both of these systems. Our results, in some cases, confirm those of other approaches. In other cases we are able to probe regions of the phase diagram inaccessible to other methods, or to obtain results of increased precision. In this paper we focus on:- 1. The energy and dispersion relation of 1-hole states. 2.The existence of a 2-hole bound state and its energy and dispersion. 3. Spin and charge gaps and the question of phase separation

  1. Optimization of strong and weak coordinates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Swart, M.; Bickelhaupt, F.M.

    2006-01-01

    We present a new scheme for the geometry optimization of equilibrium and transition state structures that can be used for both strong and weak coordinates. We use a screening function that depends on atom-pair distances to differentiate strong coordinates from weak coordinates. This differentiation

  2. Cloud-radiation-precipitation associations over the Asian monsoon region: an observational analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jiandong; Wang, Wei-Chyung; Dong, Xiquan; Mao, Jiangyu

    2017-11-01

    This study uses 2001-2014 satellite observations and reanalyses to investigate the seasonal characteristics of Cloud Radiative Effects (CREs) and their associations with cloud fraction (CF) and precipitation over the Asian monsoon region (AMR) covering Eastern China (EC) and South Asia (SA). The CREs exhibit strong seasonal variations but show distinctly different relationships with CFs and precipitation over the two regions. For EC, the CREs is dominated by shortwave (SW) cooling, with an annual mean value of - 40 W m- 2 for net CRE, and peak in summer while the presence of extensive and opaque low-level clouds contributes to large Top-Of-Atmosphere (TOA) albedo (>0.5) in winter. For SA, a weak net CRE exists throughout the year due to in-phase compensation of SWCRE by longwave (LW) CRE associated with the frequent occurrence of high clouds. For the entire AMR, SWCRE strongly correlates with the dominant types of CFs, although the cloud vertical structure plays important role particularly in summer. The relationships between CREs and precipitation are stronger in SA than in EC, indicating the dominant effect of monsoon circulation in the former region. SWCRE over EC is only partly related to precipitation and shows distinctive regional variations. Further studies need to pay more attention to vertical distributions of cloud micro- and macro-physical properties, and associated precipitation systems over the AMR.

  3. Black carbon exposure more strongly associated with census tract poverty compared to household income among US black, white, and Latino working class adults in Boston, MA (2003–2010)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krieger, Nancy; Waterman, Pamela D.; Gryparis, Alexandros; Coull, Brent A.

    2014-01-01

    We investigated the association of individual-level ambient exposure to black carbon (spatiotemporal model-based estimate for latitude and longitude of residential address) with individual, household, and census tract socioeconomic measures among a study sample comprised of 1757 US urban working class white, black and Latino adults (age 25–64) recruited for two studies conducted in Boston, MA (2003–2004; 2008–2010). Controlling for age, study, and exam date, the estimated average annual black carbon exposure for the year prior to study enrollment at the participants' residential address was directly associated with census tract poverty (beta = 0.373; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.322, 0.423) but not with annual household income or education; null associations with race/ethnicity became significant only after controlling for socioeconomic position. - Highlights: • The study included 1757 black, Latino, and white working class adults in Boston, MA. • Census tract poverty was associated with annual average black carbon exposure. • Annual household income was not associated with black carbon exposure. • Individual-level education was not associated with black carbon exposure. • The observed socioeconomic patterns varied by race/ethnicity. - In a US multiethnic urban working adult population, exposure to black carbon was more strongly associated with census tract as compared to household- or individual-level socioeconomic measures

  4. Strong nutrition governance is a key to addressing nutrition transition in low and middle-income countries: review of countries' nutrition policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sunguya, Bruno F; Ong, Ken I C; Dhakal, Sumi; Mlunde, Linda B; Shibanuma, Akira; Yasuoka, Junko; Jimba, Masamine

    2014-06-27

    Nutrition transition necessitates low and middle-income countries (LAMICs) to scale up their efforts in addressing the burdens of undernutrition and overweight/obesity. Magnitudes of undernutrition and overweight are high in LAMICs, but no study has reviewed the existence of nutrition policies to address it. No evidence is also available on the effect of nutrition policies and governance on the undernutrition and overweight/obesity patterns in such countries. We conducted a policy review to examine the presence and associations of nutrition policies and governance with the children's nutrition statuses in LAMICs. We reviewed nutrition policies, nutrition governance, and the trends of nutrition status from LAMICs. We retrieved data on the policies from the global database on the implementation of nutrition actions (GINA). We also retrieved data on the trends of nutrition status and nutrition governance from the nutrition landscape information system (NLiS), and on LAMICs from the World Bank database. We then analyzed the data both descriptively and by using a mixed effects model with random-intercept by country. Of the 139 LAMICs reviewed, only 39.6% had policies to address both undernutrition and overweight/obesity. A higher proportion of low-income countries (LICs) had policies to address undernutrition compared to that of middle-income countries (MICs) (86.1% vs. 63.1%, p = 0.002), and a low proportion of both had policy to address overweight. Having a nutrition policy that addresses undernutrition was not associated with better nutrition status outcomes. Strong nutrition governance in LAMICS was associated with low magnitudes of stunting (beta = -4.958, p = 0.015); wasting (beta = -5.418, p = 0.003); and underweight (beta = -6.452, p = 0.001). Despite high magnitudes of undernutrition and overweight/obesity in LAMICs, only about one third of them had nutrition policies to address such nutrition transition. Having strong nutrition governance may help to bring

  5. Comparative Analysis of Existing RC Columns Jacketed with CFRP or FRCC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marta Del Zoppo

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Reinforced concrete (RC columns typical of existing structures often exhibit premature failures during seismic events (i.e., longitudinal bars buckling and shear interaction mechanisms due to the poor quality concrete and the absence of proper seismic details in the potential plastic hinge region. The Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP externally bonded reinforcement is known to be a valid technique to improve the shear capacity or the ductility of existing RC columns. However, few experimental tests have proven its effectiveness in the case of columns affected by shear interaction mechanisms. In this work, the behavior of existing RC columns with border line behavior between flexure and shear have been investigated in the case of poor quality concrete and light FRP strengthening with local jacketing and medium quality concrete and strong FRP strengthening with local jacketing, in order to highlight the effect of concrete strength on the effectiveness of the retrofit intervention. As an alternative to FRP jacketing; the effectiveness of the Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composite (FRCC jacketing for the seismic strengthening of columns with highly deteriorated concrete cover or columns already damaged by an earthquake is also evaluated. Six full-scale RC columns have been tested under cyclic loading: one was used as a control specimen; four were strengthened in the potential plastic hinge region with carbon FRP (CFRP; and one was fully jacketed with FRCC. The comparison between poor and medium quality concrete columns showed that the CFRP local jacketing is more effective in the case of poor quality concrete. The FRCC jacketing appears to be a sound repair strategy and a suitable alternative to the FRP jacketing in case of poor quality; however, more experimental research is needed for improving this retrofit technique.

  6. Strong Convergence to Common Fixed Points of a Countable Family of Asymptotically Strictly Quasi-ϕ-Pseudocontractions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei-Qi Deng

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Based on an original idea, namely, a specific way of choosing the indexes of the involved mappings, we propose a new hybrid shrinking iteration scheme for approximating some common fixed points of a countable family of asymptotically strictly quasi-ϕ-pseudocontractions and obtain a strong convergence theorem in the framework of Banach space. Our result extends other authors, related results existing in the current literature. As application, an iterative solution to a system of equilibrium problems is provided.

  7. Neighborhood deprivation is strongly associated with participation in a population-based health check

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bender, Anne Mette; Kawachi, Ichiro; Jørgensen, Torben

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: We sought to examine whether neighborhood deprivation is associated with participation in a large population-based health check. Such analyses will help answer the question whether health checks, which are designed to meet the needs of residents in deprived neighborhoods, may increase...... participation and prove to be more effective in preventing disease. In Europe, no study has previously looked at the association between neighborhood deprivation and participation in a population-based health check. METHODS: The study population comprised 12,768 persons invited for a health check including...... screening for ischemic heart disease and lifestyle counseling. The study population was randomly drawn from a population of 179,097 persons living in 73 neighborhoods in Denmark. Data on neighborhood deprivation (percentage with basic education, with low income and not in work) and individual socioeconomic...

  8. Theoretical studies of strongly correlated fermions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Logan, D [Institut Max von Laue - Paul Langevin (ILL), 38 - Grenoble (France)

    1997-04-01

    Strongly correlated fermions are investigated. An understanding of strongly correlated fermions underpins a diverse range of phenomena such as metal-insulator transitions, high-temperature superconductivity, magnetic impurity problems and the properties of heavy-fermion systems, in all of which local moments play an important role. (author).

  9. 78 FR 15710 - Strong Sensitizer Guidance

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-12

    ... the supplemental definition of ``strong sensitizer'' found at 16 CFR 1500.3(c)(5). The Commission is proposing to revise the supplemental definition of ``strong sensitizer'' due to advancements in the science...'' definition, assist manufacturers in understanding how CPSC staff would assess whether a substance and/or...

  10. BSDES IN GAMES, COUPLED WITH THE VALUE FUNCTIONS.ASSOCIATED NONLOCAL BELLMAN-ISAACS EQUATIONS

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Tao HAO; Juan LI

    2017-01-01

    We establish a new type of backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs) connected with stochastic differential games (SDGs),namely,BSDEs strongly coupled with the lower and the upper value functions of SDGs,where the lower and the upper value functions are defined through this BSDE.The existence and the uniqueness theorem and comparison theorem are proved for such equations with the help of an iteration method.We also show that the lower and the upper value functions satisfy the dynamic programming principle.Moreover,we study the associated Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman-Isaacs (HJB-Isaacs) equations,which are nonlocal,and strongly coupled with the lower and the upper value functions.Using a new method,we characterize the pair (W,U) consisting of the lower and the upper value functions as the unique viscosity solution of our nonlocal HJB-Isaacs equation.Furthermore,the game has a value under the Isaacs' condition.

  11. Association between adolescent marriage and intimate partner violence: a study of young adult women in Bangladesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, Mosfequr; Hoque, Md Aminul; Mostofa, Md Golam; Makinoda, Satoru

    2014-03-01

    This study explores the association between adolescent marriage and intimate partner violence (IPV) among young adult women using 2007 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey data. The analyses are restricted to young women 20 to 24 years old. Logistic regression analyses are constructed to estimate the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the association between adolescent marriage and IPV in the past year. show that there is a strong significant relationship between adolescent marriage and experience of physical IPV in the past year among this population. Association between sexual IPV and adolescent marriage is insignificant. Adolescent marriage puts women at increased risk of physical IPV into their young adult period. Government agencies need to enforce existing law on the minimum age at marriage to reduce IPV among adolescent and young adult girls.

  12. Biomineralization of radioactive sulfide minerals in strong acidic Tamagawa hot springs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tazaki, Kazue; Watanabe, Hiroaki

    2004-01-01

    Bioaccumulation of radioactive sulfide minerals by bacteria in strong acidic hot spring water was found at Tamagawa Hot Springs, Akita prefecture in Japan. The hot spring water produces Hokutolite of radioactive minerals high radium and radon. The β-ray measurements of sediments and biofilms indicate 1850-2420 and 5700 cpm, respectively, which are 50-100 times higher than that of the water and the air (50-90 cpm). The characteristics of hot spring water show pH (1.2), Eh (140 mV), EC (29 mS/cm), DO (0.8 mg/l), and water temperature (99.5degC), indicating extremely strong acidic and reducing conditions. The hot spring water contains mainly HCl associated with high concentrations of Ca 2+ , Al 3+ , Fe 2+ , HSO 4 - and SO 4 2- . SEM-EDX and TEM demonstrate some insight into how microorganisms affect the chemistry and microbiological characteristics of the strong acidic surroundings with high S, As, Ba, and Ca contents in biofilms. Especially SEM-EDX, ED-XRF, and STEM-EDX elemental content maps illustrate the distribution of sulfur-bearing compounds of barite (BaSO 4 ), gypsum (CaSO 4 ·2H 2 O), elemental sulfur (S) and orpiment(As 2 S 3 ) in the reddish orange biofilms. The presence of a hydrogen sulfide-rich (H 2 S) thermal spring and gypsum deposits suggest the volatilization of H 2 S from the spring water, oxidation of the H 2 S gas to sulfuric acid, and reaction of the sulfuric acid. TEM micrographs of bacteria in the biofilms reveal in detail the intimate connections between biological and mineralogical processes that the cells are entirely accumulated with spherical grains, 100∼200 nm in diameter. The relationship among sulfide minerals, such as barite, gypsum, sulfur, orpiment, and Hakutolite, associated with bacteria implies that heavy metals have been transported from strong acidic hot spring water to sediments through bacteria metabolism. It is possible that the capability of radioactive sulfide biofilms for heavy metal immobilization can be used to

  13. Nuclear physics from strong coupling QCD

    CERN Document Server

    Fromm, Michael

    2009-01-01

    The strong coupling limit (beta_gauge = 0) of QCD offers a number of remarkable research possibilities, of course at the price of large lattice artifacts. Here, we determine the complete phase diagram as a function of temperature T and baryon chemical potential mu_B, for one flavor of staggered fermions in the chiral limit, with emphasis on the determination of a tricritical point and on the T ~ 0 transition to nuclear matter. The latter is known to happen for mu_B substantially below the baryon mass, indicating strong nuclear interactions in QCD at infinite gauge coupling. This leads us to studying the properties of nuclear matter from first principles. We determine the nucleon-nucleon potential in the strong coupling limit, as well as masses m_A of nuclei as a function of their atomic number A. Finally, we clarify the origin of nuclear interactions at strong coupling, which turns out to be a steric effect.

  14. Strongly Agree or Strongly Disagree?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Carrizosa, Emilio; Nogales-Gómez, Amaya; Morales, Dolores Romero

    2016-01-01

    In linear classifiers, such as the Support Vector Machine (SVM), a score is associated with each feature and objects are assigned to classes based on the linear combination of the scores and the values of the features. Inspired by discrete psychometric scales, which measure the extent to which a ...

  15. Genome-wide association study identifies genetic loci associated with iron deficiency.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christine E McLaren

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available The existence of multiple inherited disorders of iron metabolism in man, rodents and other vertebrates suggests genetic contributions to iron deficiency. To identify new genomic locations associated with iron deficiency, a genome-wide association study (GWAS was performed using DNA collected from white men aged≥25 y and women≥50 y in the Hemochromatosis and Iron Overload Screening (HEIRS Study with serum ferritin (SF≤12 µg/L (cases and iron replete controls (SF>100 µg/L in men, SF>50 µg/L in women. Regression analysis was used to examine the association between case-control status (336 cases, 343 controls and quantitative serum iron measures and 331,060 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP genotypes, with replication analyses performed in a sample of 71 cases and 161 controls from a population of white male and female veterans screened at a US Veterans Affairs (VA medical center. Five SNPs identified in the GWAS met genome-wide statistical significance for association with at least one iron measure, rs2698530 on chr. 2p14; rs3811647 on chr. 3q22, a known SNP in the transferrin (TF gene region; rs1800562 on chr. 6p22, the C282Y mutation in the HFE gene; rs7787204 on chr. 7p21; and rs987710 on chr. 22q11 (GWAS observed P<1.51×10(-7 for all. An association between total iron binding capacity and SNP rs3811647 in the TF gene (GWAS observed P=7.0×10(-9, corrected P=0.012 was replicated within the VA samples (observed P=0.012. Associations with the C282Y mutation in the HFE gene also were replicated. The joint analysis of the HEIRS and VA samples revealed strong associations between rs2698530 on chr. 2p14 and iron status outcomes. These results confirm a previously-described TF polymorphism and implicate one potential new locus as a target for gene identification.

  16. String dynamics at strong coupling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hull, C.M.

    1996-01-01

    The dynamics of superstring, supergravity and M-theories and their compactifications are probed by studying the various perturbation theories that emerge in the strong and weak-coupling limits for various directions in coupling constant space. The results support the picture of an underlying non-perturbative theory that, when expanded perturbatively in different coupling constants, gives different perturbation theories, which can be perturbative superstring theories or superparticle theories. The p-brane spectrum is considered in detail and a criterion found to establish which p-branes govern the strong-coupling dynamics. In many cases there are competing conjectures in the literature, and this analysis decides between them. In other cases, new results are found. The chiral 6-dimensional theory resulting from compactifying the type IIB string on K 3 is studied in detail and it is found that certain strong-coupling limits appear to give new theories, some of which hint at the possibility of a 12-dimensional origin. (orig.)

  17. Existence of bounded solutions of Neumann problem for a nonlinear degenerate elliptic equation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salvatore Bonafede

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available We prove the existence of bounded solutions of Neumann problem for nonlinear degenerate elliptic equations of second order in divergence form. We also study some properties as the Phragmen-Lindelof property and the asymptotic behavior of the solutions of Dirichlet problem associated to our equation in an unbounded domain.

  18. The strong 3.3 micron emission line in Wolf-Rayet stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williams, P.M.

    1982-01-01

    A number of Wolf-Rayet stars have been found to show in their spectra a strong emission feature at 3.28 μm, the wavelength of the 'unidentified' feature observed in some nebular spectra. From comparison of the strength of this line from stars of different spectral type and excitation, it is identified with the CIV (11-10) transition group and shown not to be connected with the circumstellar dust associated with some Wolf-Rayet stars. (author)

  19. Plasmons in strong superconductors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baldo, M.; Ducoin, C.

    2011-01-01

    We present a study of the possible plasmon excitations that can occur in systems where strong superconductivity is present. In these systems the plasmon energy is comparable to or smaller than the pairing gap. As a prototype of these systems we consider the proton component of Neutron Star matter just below the crust when electron screening is not taken into account. For the realistic case we consider in detail the different aspects of the elementary excitations when the proton, electron components are considered within the Random-Phase Approximation generalized to the superfluid case, while the influence of the neutron component is considered only at qualitative level. Electron screening plays a major role in modifying the proton spectrum and spectral function. At the same time the electron plasmon is strongly modified and damped by the indirect coupling with the superfluid proton component, even at moderately low values of the gap. The excitation spectrum shows the interplay of the different components and their relevance for each excitation modes. The results are relevant for neutrino physics and thermodynamical processes in neutron stars. If electron screening is neglected, the spectral properties of the proton component show some resemblance with the physical situation in high-T c superconductors, and we briefly discuss similarities and differences in this connection. In a general prospect, the results of the study emphasize the role of Coulomb interaction in strong superconductors.

  20. Estimating the contribution of strong daily export events to total pollutant export from the United States in summer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Yuanyuan; Fiore, Arlene M.; Horowitz, Larry W.; Gnanadesikan, Anand; Levy, Hiram; Hu, Yongtao; Russell, Armistead G.

    2009-12-01

    While the export of pollutants from the United States exhibits notable variability from day to day and is often considered to be "episodic," the contribution of strong daily export events to total export has not been quantified. We use carbon monoxide (CO) as a tracer of anthropogenic pollutants in the Model of OZone And Related Tracers (MOZART) to estimate this contribution. We first identify the major export pathway from the United States to be through the northeast boundary (24-48°N along 67.5°W and 80-67.5°W along 48°N), and then analyze 15 summers of daily CO export fluxes through this boundary. These daily CO export fluxes have a nearly Gaussian distribution with a mean of 1100 Gg CO day-1 and a standard deviation of 490 Gg CO day-1. To focus on the synoptic variability, we define a "synoptic background" export flux equal to the 15 day moving average export flux and classify strong export days according to their fluxes relative to this background. As expected from Gaussian statistics, 16% of summer days are "strong export days," classified as those days when the CO export flux exceeds the synoptic background by one standard deviation or more. Strong export days contributes 25% to the total export, a value determined by the relative standard deviation of the CO flux distribution. Regressing the anomalies of the CO export flux through the northeast U.S. boundary relative to the synoptic background on the daily anomalies in the surface pressure field (also relative to a 15 day running mean) suggests that strong daily export fluxes are correlated with passages of midlatitude cyclones over the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The associated cyclonic circulation and Warm Conveyor Belts (WCBs) that lift surface pollutants over the northeastern United States have been shown previously to be associated with long-range transport events. Comparison with observations from the 2004 INTEX-NA field campaign confirms that our model captures the observed enhancements in CO outflow

  1. Radar observations of ion cyclotron waves associated with two barium shaped-charge releases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Providakes, J.; Swartz, W.E.; Kelley, M.C.; Djuth, F.T.; Noble, S.; Jost, R.J.

    1990-01-01

    A 50-MHz Doppler radar interferometer and a 138-MHz Doppler radar were operated from Kennedy Space Center to study 3-m and 1-m plasma waves associated with two shaped-charged barium releases from Wallops Island, Virginia, on May 13, 1986. During the first release, interferometer and Doppler power spectral studies showed the existence of short-lived ( + EIC waves were unstable for field-aligned electron drifts greater than 0.7υ the at the altitude of 510 km in a multispecies (O + , NO + , or similarly O 2 + ) ionospheric plasma. The authors interpret the 30-Hz waves seen by the two radars far above the release as strong electrostatic ion cyclotron waves generated by intense field-aligned currents associated with the barium stream acting like an MHD generator coupled to the ionospheres

  2. Limited agreement exists between rationale and practice in athletes' supplement use for maintenance of health: a retrospective study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mazanov Jason

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The widespread use of nutritional supplements among athletes is poorly understood. The prevalence of supplement intake and users' knowledge have been researched independently leading to useful, but disconnected, information on supplement use. Methods The 'UK Sport 2005 Drug Free Survey' data (n = 874 were re-analysed using association [χ2] and 'strength of association' tests [φ], to discover observed incongruencies between self-reported supplement use and the underlying motives. Results are given for test pairs between 'motive for use' [doctor's advice, avoiding sickness, overcoming injuries and enhancement of diet] and each supplement used and these were categorized as strong (φ > .7, intermediate (7 φ > .3 and weak (φ Results The use of selected supplements varied widely as follows: multivitamin (72.7%, vitamin C (70.4%, echinacea (30.8%, iron (29.8%, magnesium (11.0% and ginseng (8.3%. Associations with motive were found in 8 of the 10 test pairs which were expected from literature precedents, however only weak associations exist. Of these, four were associated with avoidance of sickness [iron (χ2 = 11.94, p χ2 = 6.43, p φ = .11, p = .011, vitamin C (χ2 = 54.67, p φ = .32, p χ2 = 40.34, p φ = .28, p χ2 = 7.64, p = .006; φ = .12, p = .006 and multivitamin (χ2 = 9.103, p = .003; φ = .13, p = .003; overcoming injuries with magnesium (χ2 = 6.99, p = .008; φ = .11, p = .008; doctors' advice and iron (χ2 = 35.00, p φ = .25, p = .001. Conclusion These results suggest a lack of understanding regarding supplements and health maintenance, except for vitamin C and echinacea. Furthermore, supplement use is apparently independent of physicians/dieticians' advice, except for iron. This may suggest a widespread circumvention of expert advice in the growing area of supplement use and therefore should be addressed to underscore potential health risks.

  3. Cauchy horizons in Gowdy spacetimes[04.20.Dw Singularities and cosmic censorship; 04.20.Ex Initial value problem, existence and uniqueness of solutions;

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chrusciel, Piotr T [Departement de Mathematiques, Faculte des Sciences, Parc de Grandmont, F37200 Tours (France); Lake, Kayll [Department of Physics and Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Queen' s University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 (Canada)

    2004-02-07

    We analyse exhaustively the structure of non-degenerate Cauchy horizons in Gowdy spacetimes, and we establish existence of a large class of non-polarized Gowdy spacetimes with such horizons. Our results here, together with the deep new results of Ringstroem, establish strong cosmic censorship in (toroidal) Gowdy spacetimes.

  4. Preservation of potassium balance is strongly associated with insect cold tolerance in the field: a seasonal study of Drosophila subobscura.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacMillan, Heath A; Schou, Mads F; Kristensen, Torsten N; Overgaard, Johannes

    2016-05-01

    There is interest in pinpointing genes and physiological mechanisms explaining intra- and interspecific variations in cold tolerance, because thermal tolerance phenotypes strongly impact the distribution and abundance of wild animals. Laboratory studies have highlighted that the capacity to preserve water and ion homeostasis is linked to low temperature survival in insects. It remains unknown, however, whether adaptive seasonal acclimatization in free-ranging insects is governed by the same physiological mechanisms. Here, we test whether cold tolerance in field-caught Drosophila subobscura is high in early spring and lower during summer and whether this transition is associated with seasonal changes in the capacity of flies to preserve water and ion balance during cold stress. Indeed, flies caught during summer were less cold tolerant, and exposure of these flies to sub-zero temperatures caused a loss of haemolymph water and increased the concentration of K(+) in the haemolymph (as in laboratory-reared insects). This pattern of ion and water balance disruption was not observed in more cold-tolerant flies caught in early spring. Thus, we here provide a field verification of hypotheses based on laboratory studies and conclude that the ability to maintain ion homeostasis is important for the ability of free-ranging insects to cope with chilling. © 2016 The Author(s).

  5. Strong electron bidirectional anisotropies in the distant tail: ISEE 3 observations of polar rain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baker, D.N.; Bame, S.J.; Feldman, W.C.; Gosling, J.T.; Zwickl, R.D.; Slavin, J.A.; Smith, E.J.

    1986-01-01

    A detailed observational treatment of bidirectional electrons (--50 to 50 eV)in the distant magnetotail (rapprox. >100 R/sub E/) is presented. It is found that electrons in this energy range commonly exhibit strong, field-aligned anisotropies in the tail lobes. Because of large tail motions, the ISEE 3 data provide extensive sampling of both the north and south lobes in rapid succession. These data demonstrate directly the strong asymmetries that exist between the north and south lobes at any one time. The bidirectional fluxes are found to occur predominantly in the lobe directly connected to the sunward interplanetary magnetic field in the open magnetosphere model (north lobe for away sectors and south lobe for toward sectors). Electron anisotropy and magnetic field data are presented which show the transition from unidirectional (sheath) electron populations to bidirectional (lobe) populations. Thus we demonstrate the open nature of the distant magnetopause and show that the source of the higher-energy, bidirectional lobe electrons is the tailward directed electron heat flux population in the distant magnetosheath. Taken together, the present evidence suggests that the bidirectional electrons that we observe in the distant tail are closely related to the polar rain electrons observed previously at lower altitudes. Furthermore, these data provide strong evidence that the distant tail is composed largely of open magnetic field lines in contradistinction to some recently advanced models

  6. Brittle-to-ductile transition in a fiber bundle with strong heterogeneity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovács, Kornél; Hidalgo, Raul Cruz; Pagonabarraga, Ignacio; Kun, Ferenc

    2013-04-01

    We analyze the failure process of a two-component system with widely different fracture strength in the framework of a fiber bundle model with localized load sharing. A fraction 0≤α≤1 of the bundle is strong and it is represented by unbreakable fibers, while fibers of the weak component have randomly distributed failure strength. Computer simulations revealed that there exists a critical composition α(c) which separates two qualitatively different behaviors: Below the critical point, the failure of the bundle is brittle, characterized by an abrupt damage growth within the breakable part of the system. Above α(c), however, the macroscopic response becomes ductile, providing stability during the entire breaking process. The transition occurs at an astonishingly low fraction of strong fibers which can have importance for applications. We show that in the ductile phase, the size distribution of breaking bursts has a power law functional form with an exponent μ=2 followed by an exponential cutoff. In the brittle phase, the power law also prevails but with a higher exponent μ=9/2. The transition between the two phases shows analogies to continuous phase transitions. Analyzing the microstructure of the damage, it was found that at the beginning of the fracture process cracks nucleate randomly, while later on growth and coalescence of cracks dominate, which give rise to power law distributed crack sizes.

  7. A comparison of two methods for earthquake source inversion using strong motion seismograms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. C. Beroza

    1994-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we compare two time-domain inversion methods that have been widely applied to the problem of modeling earthquake rupture using strong-motion seismograms. In the multi-window method, each point on the fault is allowed to rupture multiple times. This allows flexibility in the rupture time and hence the rupture velocity. Variations in the slip-velocity function are accommodated by variations in the slip amplitude in each time-window. The single-window method assumes that each point on the fault ruptures only once, when the rupture front passes. Variations in slip amplitude are allowed and variations in rupture velocity are accommodated by allowing the rupture time to vary. Because the multi-window method allows greater flexibility, it has the potential to describe a wider range of faulting behavior; however, with this increased flexibility comes an increase in the degrees of freedom and the solutions are comparatively less stable. We demonstrate this effect using synthetic data for a test model of the Mw 7.3 1992 Landers, California earthquake, and then apply both inversion methods to the actual recordings. The two approaches yield similar fits to the strong-motion data with different seismic moments indicating that the moment is not well constrained by strong-motion data alone. The slip amplitude distribution is similar using either approach, but important differences exist in the rupture propagation models. The single-window method does a better job of recovering the true seismic moment and the average rupture velocity. The multi-window method is preferable when rise time is strongly variable, but tends to overestimate the seismic moment. Both methods work well when the rise time is constant or short compared to the periods modeled. Neither approach can recover the temporal details of rupture propagation unless the distribution of slip amplitude is constrained by independent data.

  8. Quantum Simulations of Strongly Coupled Quark-Gluon Plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Filinov, V.S.; Bonitz, M.; Ivanov, Yu.B.

    2013-01-01

    In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in dynamics and thermodynamics of non-Abelian plasmas at both very high temperature and density. It is expected that a specific state of matter with unconfined quarks and gluons - the so called quark - gluon plasma (QGP) - can exist. The most fundamental way to compute properties of the strongly interacting matter is provided by the lattice QCD. Interpretation of these very complicated computations requires application of various QCD motivated, albeit schematic, models simulating various aspects of the full theory. Moreover, such models are needed in cases when the lattice QCD fails, e.g. at large baryon chemical potentials and out of equilibrium. A semi-classical approximation, based on a point like quasi-particle picture has been recently introduced in literature. It is expected that it allows to treat soft processes in the QGP which are not accessible by the perturbative means and the main features of non-Abelian plasmas can be understood in simple semi-classical terms without the difficulties inherent to a full quantum field theoretical analysis. Here we propose stochastic simulation of thermodynamics and kinetic properties for QGP in semi-classical approximation in the wide region of temperature, density and quasi-particles masses. We extend previous classical nonrelativistic simulations based on a color Coulomb interaction to the quantum regime and take into account the Fermi (Bose) statistics of quarks (gluons) and quantum degeneracy self-consistently. In grand canonical ensemble for finite and zero baryon chemical potential we use the direct quantum path integral Monte Carlo method (PIMC) developed for finite temperature within Feynman formulation of quantum mechanics to do calculations of internal energy, pressure and pair correlation functions. The QGP quasi-particles representing dressed quarks, antiquarks and gluons interact via color quantum Kelbg pseudopotential rigorously derived in for Coulomb

  9. Gene expression profiling for human iPS-derived motor neurons from sporadic ALS patients reveals a strong association between mitochondrial functions and neurodegeneration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alves, Chrystian J.; Dariolli, Rafael; Jorge, Frederico M.; Monteiro, Matheus R.; Maximino, Jessica R.; Martins, Roberto S.; Strauss, Bryan E.; Krieger, José E.; Callegaro, Dagoberto; Chadi, Gerson

    2015-01-01

    Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that leads to widespread motor neuron death, general palsy and respiratory failure. The most prevalent sporadic ALS form is not genetically inherited. Attempts to translate therapeutic strategies have failed because the described mechanisms of disease are based on animal models carrying specific gene mutations and thus do not address sporadic ALS. In order to achieve a better approach to study the human disease, human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-differentiated motor neurons were obtained from motor nerve fibroblasts of sporadic ALS and non-ALS subjects using the STEMCCA Cre-Excisable Constitutive Polycistronic Lentivirus system and submitted to microarray analyses using a whole human genome platform. DAVID analyses of differentially expressed genes identified molecular function and biological process-related genes through Gene Ontology. REVIGO highlighted the related functions mRNA and DNA binding, GTP binding, transcription (co)-repressor activity, lipoprotein receptor binding, synapse organization, intracellular transport, mitotic cell cycle and cell death. KEGG showed pathways associated with Parkinson's disease and oxidative phosphorylation, highlighting iron homeostasis, neurotrophic functions, endosomal trafficking and ERK signaling. The analysis of most dysregulated genes and those representative of the majority of categorized genes indicates a strong association between mitochondrial function and cellular processes possibly related to motor neuron degeneration. In conclusion, iPSC-derived motor neurons from motor nerve fibroblasts of sporadic ALS patients may recapitulate key mechanisms of neurodegeneration and may offer an opportunity for translational investigation of sporadic ALS. Large gene profiling of differentiated motor neurons from sporadic ALS patients highlights mitochondrial participation in the establishment of autonomous mechanisms associated with sporadic ALS

  10. The gambler's fallacy is associated with weak affective decision making but strong cognitive ability.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gui Xue

    Full Text Available Humans demonstrate an inherent bias towards making maladaptive decisions, as shown by a phenomenon known as the gambler's fallacy (GF. The GF has been traditionally considered as a heuristic bias supported by the fast and automatic intuition system, which can be overcome by the reasoning system. The present study examined an intriguing hypothesis, based on emerging evidence from neuroscience research, that the GF might be attributed to a weak affective but strong cognitive decision making mechanism. With data from a large sample of college students, we found that individuals' use of the GF strategy was positively correlated with their general intelligence and executive function, such as working memory and conflict resolution, but negatively correlated with their affective decision making capacities, as measured by the Iowa Gambling Task. Our result provides a novel insight into the mechanisms underlying the GF, which highlights the significant role of affective mechanisms in adaptive decision-making.

  11. 45 CFR 84.22 - Existing facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... HANDICAP IN PROGRAMS OR ACTIVITIES RECEIVING FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE Accessibility § 84.22 Existing facilities. (a) Accessibility. A recipient shall operate its program or activity so that when each part is..., welfare, or other social services at alternate accessible sites, alteration of existing facilities and...

  12. Status of existing federal environmental risk-based standards applicable to Department of Energy operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bilyard, G.R.

    1991-09-01

    When conducting its environmental restoration, waste management, and decontamination and decommissioning activities, the US Department of Energy (DOE) must comply with a myriad of regulatory procedures and environmental standards. This paper assesses the status of existing federal risk-based standards that may be applied to chemical and radioactive substances on DOE sites. Gaps and inconsistencies among the existing standards and the technical issues associated with the application of those standards are identified. Finally, the implications of the gaps, inconsistencies, and technical issues on DOE operations are discussed, and approaches to resolving the gaps, inconsistencies, and technical issues are identified. 6 refs

  13. Conformal Haag-Kastler nets, pointlike localized fields and the existence of operator product expansions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fredenhagen, K.; Joerss, M.

    1994-10-01

    Starting from a chiral conformal Haag-Kastler net on 2 dimensional Minkowski space we construct associated pointlike localized fields. This amounts to a proof of the existence of operator product expansions. We derive the result in two ways. One is based on the geometrical identification of the modular structure, the other depends on a ''conformal cluster theorem'' of the conformal two-point-functions in algebraic quantum field theory. The existence of the fields then implies important structural properties of the theory, as PCT-invariance, the Bisognano-Wichmann identification of modular operators, Haag duality and additivity. (orig.)

  14. Atom collisions in a strong electromagnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smirnov, V.S.; Chaplik, A.V.

    1976-01-01

    It is shown that the long-range part of interatomic interaction is considerably altered in a strong electromagnetic field. Instead of the van der Waals law the potential asymptote can best be described by a dipole-dipole R -3 law. Impact broadening and the line shift in a strong nonresonant field are calculated. The possibility of bound states of two atoms being formed in a strong light field is discussed

  15. Electronic Structure of Strongly Correlated Materials

    CERN Document Server

    Anisimov, Vladimir

    2010-01-01

    Electronic structure and physical properties of strongly correlated materials containing elements with partially filled 3d, 4d, 4f and 5f electronic shells is analyzed by Dynamical Mean-Field Theory (DMFT). DMFT is the most universal and effective tool used for the theoretical investigation of electronic states with strong correlation effects. In the present book the basics of the method are given and its application to various material classes is shown. The book is aimed at a broad readership: theoretical physicists and experimentalists studying strongly correlated systems. It also serves as a handbook for students and all those who want to be acquainted with fast developing filed of condensed matter physics.

  16. Strongly first-order electroweak phase transition and classical scale invariance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farzinnia, Arsham; Ren, Jing

    2014-10-01

    In this work, we examine the possibility of realizing a strongly first-order electroweak phase transition within the minimal classically scale-invariant extension of the standard model (SM), previously proposed and analyzed as a potential solution to the hierarchy problem. By introducing one complex gauge-singlet scalar and three (weak scale) right-handed Majorana neutrinos, the scenario was successfully rendered capable of achieving a radiative breaking of the electroweak symmetry (by means of the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism), inducing nonzero masses for the SM neutrinos (via the seesaw mechanism), presenting a pseudoscalar dark matter candidate (protected by the CP symmetry of the potential), and predicting the existence of a second CP-even boson (with suppressed couplings to the SM content) in addition to the 125 GeV scalar. In the present treatment, we construct the full finite-temperature one-loop effective potential of the model, including the resummed thermal daisy loops, and demonstrate that finite-temperature effects induce a first-order electroweak phase transition. Requiring the thermally driven first-order phase transition to be sufficiently strong at the onset of the bubble nucleation (corresponding to nucleation temperatures TN˜100-200 GeV) further constrains the model's parameter space; in particular, an O(0.01) fraction of the dark matter in the Universe may be simultaneously accommodated with a strongly first-order electroweak phase transition. Moreover, such a phase transition disfavors right-handed Majorana neutrino masses above several hundreds of GeV, confines the pseudoscalar dark matter masses to ˜1-2 TeV, predicts the mass of the second CP-even scalar to be ˜100-300 GeV, and requires the mixing angle between the CP-even components of the SM doublet and the complex singlet to lie within the range 0.2≲sinω ≲0.4. The obtained results are displayed in comprehensive exclusion plots, identifying the viable regions of the parameter space

  17. Familial Longevity Is Associated With Higher TSH Secretion and Strong TSH-fT3 Relationship

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jansen, Steffy W; Roelfsema, Ferdinand; van der Spoel, Evie

    2015-01-01

    and in their partners, ultradian and circadian rhythmicity of TSH, temporal relationship, and feedback and forward interplay between TSH and TH. METHODS: We collected blood samples every 10 minutes for 24 hours for TSH and TH profiles. We used a deconvolution analysis to estimate basal (nonpulsatile), pulsatile......, and other secretion parameters to characterize ultradian rhythmicity and locally weighted polynomial regression of TSH to assess circadian rhythmicity. A cross-correlation analysis was used to investigate the temporal relationship between TSH and TH and cross-approximate entropy to assess feedback...... TSH secretion and a strong temporal relationship between TSH and free T3 but not with differences in ultradian or circadian TSH rhythmicity or feedback and forward interplay between TSH and TH....

  18. On the Strong Direct Summand Conjecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCullough, Jason

    2009-01-01

    In this thesis, our aim is the study the Vanishing of Maps of Tor Conjecture of Hochster and Huneke. We mainly focus on an equivalent characterization called the Strong Direct Summand Conjecture, due to N. Ranganathan. Our results are separated into three chapters. In Chapter 3, we prove special cases of the Strong Direct Summand Conjecture in…

  19. Altering existing buildings in the UK

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roberts, Simon

    2008-01-01

    The profiles of both existing housing and existing public and commercial buildings show that many have very poor thermal efficiency. The UK housing stock is replaced at a low rate of about 1% a year, so to cut energy use it is essential to address the challenges of existing buildings. This will involve reducing energy demand through passive measures such as retrofitted insulation, replacement of windows and proper airtightness, while ensuring adequate ventilation. Active measures include upgrading improved boilers and adding locally produced energy from wind, biomass, solar power and other sources. The introduction of Display Energy Certificates will increase energy awareness but there will also need to be a programme of increased demolition for the worst-performing homes. In addition, buildings will need to be adapted to cope with worse weather, higher temperatures and increased flood risk as climate change takes effect. Overheating, rather than excessive cold, is set to become a growing problem for householders and employees in existing UK buildings

  20. Large orders in strong-field QED

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heinzl, Thomas [School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA (United Kingdom); Schroeder, Oliver [Science-Computing ag, Hagellocher Weg 73, D-72070 Tuebingen (Germany)

    2006-09-15

    We address the issue of large-order expansions in strong-field QED. Our approach is based on the one-loop effective action encoded in the associated photon polarization tensor. We concentrate on the simple case of crossed fields aiming at possible applications of high-power lasers to measure vacuum birefringence. A simple next-to-leading order derivative expansion reveals that the indices of refraction increase with frequency. This signals normal dispersion in the small-frequency regime where the derivative expansion makes sense. To gain information beyond that regime we determine the factorial growth of the derivative expansion coefficients evaluating the first 82 orders by means of computer algebra. From this we can infer a nonperturbative imaginary part for the indices of refraction indicating absorption (pair production) as soon as energy and intensity become (super)critical. These results compare favourably with an analytic evaluation of the polarization tensor asymptotics. Kramers-Kronig relations finally allow for a nonperturbative definition of the real parts as well and show that absorption goes hand in hand with anomalous dispersion for sufficiently large frequencies and fields.