Multiple State Representation Scheme for Organic Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells: A Novel Analysis Perspective

The physics of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells is studied within a six state model, which is used to analyze the factors that affect current-voltage characteristics, power-voltage properties and efficiency, and their dependence on nonradiative losses, reorganization of the nuclear environment, and environmental polarization. Both environmental reorganization and polarity is explicitly taken into account by incorporating Marcus heterogeneous and homogeneous electron transfer rates. The environmental polarity is found to have a nonnegligible influence both on the stationary current and on the overall solar cell performance. For our organic bulk heterojunction solar cell operating under steady-state open circuit condition, we also find that the open circuit voltage logarithmically decreases with increasing nonradiative electron-hole recombination processes.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

The course and correlates of everyday functioning in schizophrenia

AbstractPreviously institutionalized older patients with schizophrenia show changes in cognitive and functional capacity over time. This study examined changes in real-world functioning in a sample of people with schizophrenia who varied in their history of long-term institutionalization and related changes in real world functioning to changes in cognition and functional capacity over the follow-up period.Older patients with schizophrenia (n=111) were examined with assessments of cognitive functioning, functional capacity, clinical symptoms, and everyday functioning. They were then followed up to 45 months and examined up to two times. Mixed-model regression was used to examine changes in real-world functioning in social, everyday living, and vocational domains over the follow-up period and identify potential predictors of change.Everyday functioning worsened over time in all three domains. Although length of longest hospitalization predicted worsening, this influence was eliminated when the course of functional capacity was used to predict the course of everyday functioning. For both vocational and everyday living domains, as well as the composite score on functional status, worsening in performance based measures of everyday functioning and social competence predicted worsening in real world functioning. Changes in negative symptoms further predicted worsening in the everyday living domain.Worsening in everyday functioning is found in people with schizophrenia and those with a history of greater chronicity and severity of illness seem more affected. These influences seem to be expressed through worsening in the ability to perform everyday functional skills. Potential causes of these changes and implications for reducing these impairments are discussed

Kramers barrier crossing as a cooling machine

The achievement of local cooling is a prominent goal in the design of functional transport nanojunctions. One generic mechanism for local cooling is driving a system through a local uphill potential step. In this paper we examine the manifestation of this mechanism in the context of the Kramers barrier crossing problem. For a particle crossing a barrier, the local effective temperature and the local energy exchange with the thermal environment are calculated, and the coefficient of performance of the ensuing cooling process is evaluated.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Adjuvancy and reactogenicity of N-acetylglycosaminyl-N-acetylmuramyl-dipeptide (GMDP) orally administered just prior to trivalent influenza subunit vaccine. A double-blind placebo-controlled study in nursing home residents.

One hundred and fifty-three nursing home residents received 0, 5, 25 or 50 mg N-acetylglucosaminyl-N-acetylmuramyl-dipeptide (GMDP) orally, and trivalent influenza subunit vaccine intramuscularly. One day after intervention, there was a strong increase of total leucocytes, monocytes and neutrophils in the groups receiving 25 or 50 mg GMDP. A GMDP dose dependent increase in systemic, but not in local, vaccine side-effects was observed. No significant differences in post-vaccination haemagglutination inhibiting serum antibody titres were observed between the four groups, indicating that oral administration of GMDP together with influenza vaccination, does not lead to a higher vaccine efficacy

Automated Galaxy Morphology: A Fourier Approach

We use automated surface photometry and pattern classification techniques to morphologically classify galaxies. The two-dimensional light distribution of a galaxy is reconstructed using Fourier series fits to azimuthal profiles computed in concentric elliptical annuli centered on the galaxy. Both the phase and amplitude of each Fourier component have been studied as a function of radial bin number for a large collection of galaxy images using principal component analysis. We find that up to 90 percent of the variance in many of these Fourier profiles may be characterized in as few as 3 principal components and their use substantially reduces the dimensionality of the classification problem. We use supervised learning methods in the form of artificial neural networks to train galaxy classifiers that detect morphological bars at the 85-90 percent confidence level and can identify the Hubble type with a 1-sigma scatter of 1.5 steps on the 16-step stage axis of the revised Hubble system. Finally, we systematically characterize the adverse effects of decreasing resolution and S/N on the quality of morphological information predicted by these classifiers.Comment: Accepted to Astrophysical Journal, 43 pages, 12 figure

A qualitative analysis of the effect of a community-based primary health care programme on reproductive preferences and contraceptive use among the Kassena-Nankana of northern Ghana

Background In 2000, Ghana launched the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) initiative to improve access to health and family planning services. This initiative was based in part on research, known as the Navrongo Project, conducted in the Kassena-Nankana district (KND) between 1994 to 2003 which demonstrated significant impact on fertility and child mortality. This paper examines current contraceptive perceptions in communities that were exposed to the Project’s service models over the 1994 to 2003 period, and the post-experimental policies of the CHPS era. Methods Qualitative study was conducted in the KND of Ghana from June to September, 2012, by convening 8 male and 8 female FGD panels as well as 8 in-depth interviews of community leaders. Data collection was stratified by original experimental cell of the Navrongo Project to permit appraisal of social effects of contrasting experimental conditions. Inductive content analysis was performed with QSR Nvivo 10 to identify predominant themes. Results While findings show that exposure to community-based services was associated with enhanced approval of birth spacing and limitation, this view is grounded in perceptions that childhood survival has improved. Nonetheless, concerns were expressed about contraceptive side effects, prominently permanent sterility. Strategies for male outreach and community engagement originally introduced during the Navrongo Project have not been sustained with CHPS scale-up. The apparent atrophy of attention to the needs of men may explain the resistance of some males to the notion of female reproductive autonomy and the practice of some women to adopt contraception in secret. Despite this apparent programmatic dearth of male engagement, there is evidence to suggest that social impact of the original male engagement strategy persists in communities where male mobilization was combined with doorstep provision of family planning care during the Navrongo Project. Conclusion Community-based services fostered attitudinal change towards family planning in a traditional sub-Saharan African setting. Sustained exposure to primary health care that have improved the survival of children has made the use of contraception more acceptable. Efforts should be embedded in primary health care programmes that address concerns about child survival while also consigning sustained priority to the information needs of men

Ulcerative colitis-risk loci on chromosomes 1p36 and 12q15 found by genome-wide association study.

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon that presents as diarrhea and gastrointestinal bleeding. We performed a genome-wide association study using DNA samples from 1,052 individuals with ulcerative colitis and preexisting data from 2,571 controls, all of European ancestry. In an analysis that controlled for gender and population structure, ulcerative colitis loci attaining genome-wide significance and subsequent replication in two independent populations were identified on chromosomes 1p36 (rs6426833, combined P = 5.1 x 10(-13), combined odds ratio OR = 0.73) and 12q15 (rs1558744, combined P = 2.5 x 10(-12), combined OR = 1.35). In addition, combined genome-wide significant evidence for association was found in a region spanning BTNL2 to HLA-DQB1 on chromosome 6p21 (rs2395185, combined P = 1.0 x 10(-16), combined OR = 0.66) and at the IL23R locus on chromosome 1p31 (rs11209026, combined P = 1.3 x 10(-8), combined OR = 0.56; rs10889677, combined P = 1.3 x 10(-8), combined OR = 1.29)

Establishment of reference CD4+ T cell values for adult Indian population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>CD4+ T lymphocyte counts are the most important indicator of disease progression and success of antiretroviral treatment in HIV infection in resource limited settings. The nationwide reference range of CD4+ T lymphocytes was not available in India. This study was conducted to determine reference values of absolute CD4+ T cell counts and percentages for adult Indian population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A multicentric study was conducted involving eight sites across the country. A total of 1206 (approximately 150 per/centre) healthy participants were enrolled in the study. The ratio of male (N = 645) to female (N = 561) of 1.14:1. The healthy status of the participants was assessed by a pre-decided questionnaire. At all centers the CD4+ T cell count, percentages and absolute CD3+ T cell count and percentages were estimated using a single platform strategy and lyse no wash technique. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Scientist (SPSS), version 15) and Prism software version 5.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The absolute CD4+ T cell counts and percentages in female participants were significantly higher than the values obtained in male participants indicating the true difference in the CD4+ T cell subsets. The reference range for absolute CD4 count for Indian male population was 381-1565 cells/μL and for female population was 447-1846 cells/μL. The reference range for CD4% was 25-49% for male and 27-54% for female population. The reference values for CD3 counts were 776-2785 cells/μL for Indian male population and 826-2997 cells/μL for female population.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The study used stringent procedures for controlling the technical variation in the CD4 counts across the sites and thus could establish the robust national reference ranges for CD4 counts and percentages. These ranges will be helpful in staging the disease progression and monitoring antiretroviral therapy in HIV infection in India.</p

Hemodynamic-GUIDEd management of Heart Failure (GUIDE-HF)

In that study, incremental reductions in the PA pressures in the monitored arm were associated with both reduction in the frequency of HFH and improvements in health-related quality of life among patients with both preserved (HFpEF) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).3,4 Additionally, hemodynamic-guided HF management in the subset of HFrEF patients treated with guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) was associated with a strong trend toward improved survival compared to traditional clinical management.4,7 Consistent benefit is demonstrated in several retrospective studies from the CHAMPION Trial.10-13 as well as extensive analysis of “real-world� experience.6,14 and in Medicare claims data managed in a commercial setting.5,15 Whether the benefits of PA pressure guided therapy can be extended to a broader pool of patients with milder (NYHA class II) or more severe (NYHA class IV) HF or to those without recent hospitalization for HF but with elevation in natriuretic peptide levels remains unclear. Remotely uploaded PA pressure information from the control group will be blocked from investigator review. [...]other than medication changes resulting from information from RHC procedures, control group subjects will not have pressure-based medication changes over time and should be managed instead according to routine practice as informed by published clinical guidelines. Thresholds for NT-proBNP/BNP corrected for BMI using a 4% reduction per BMI unit over 25 kg/m2 Subjects ≥18 y of age able and willing to provide informed consent Chest circumference of 15) at implant RHC, a history of noncompliance, or any condition that would preclude CardioMEMS PA Sensor implantation Table I Inclusion and exclusion criteria PA pressure goals PA diastolic: 8-20 mm Hg PA mean: 10-25 mm Hg PA systolic: 15-35 mm Hg Optimization phas