233 research outputs found

    Ultrasound-induced acoustophoretic motion of microparticles in three dimensions

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    We derive analytical expressions for the three-dimensional (3D) acoustophoretic motion of spherical microparticles in rectangular microchannels. The motion is generated by the acoustic radiation force and the acoustic streaming-induced drag force. In contrast to the classical theory of Rayleigh streaming in shallow, infinite, parallel-plate channels, our theory does include the effect of the microchannel side walls. The resulting predictions agree well with numerics and experimental measurements of the acoustophoretic motion of polystyrene spheres with nominal diameters of 0.537 um and 5.33 um. The 3D particle motion was recorded using astigmatism particle tracking velocimetry under controlled thermal and acoustic conditions in a long, straight, rectangular microchannel actuated in one of its transverse standing ultrasound-wave resonance modes with one or two half-wavelengths. The acoustic energy density is calibrated in situ based on measurements of the radiation dominated motion of large 5-um-diam particles, allowing for quantitative comparison between theoretical predictions and measurements of the streaming induced motion of small 0.5-um-diam particles.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, Revtex 4.

    Structure and distribution of the slope fish community in the vicinity of the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Archipelago

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    Demersal fish community structure, distribution and trophic relationships on the slope (depth range 200–1500 m) of the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands and surrounding sea rises were investigated during a pilot survey conducted in April 2001 onboard fishing vessel MV Iris. A total of 56 fish taxa were collected during the survey, of which 44 were identified to the species level, seven to the genus level and five to the family level. Among the identified taxa, 36 constituted new records for the area investigated. Total catch per unit effort (cpue) during the survey ranged from 1‱1 to 241‱2 individuals h 1. Both average fish diversity and total cpue positively correlated with trawling depth. Overall, mean sampling depth and near-bottom temperature explained 56% of total fish cpue. Hierarchal cluster analysis identified three distinct fish assemblages with pronounced dominant species. Major shifts in fish community composition occurred at 500–600 m and 800–900 m depth strata and could probably be a result of physical and biological vertical zonation. Analysis of the diet of selected fish species showed that they were generalist feeders, consuming predominantly pelagic, including epipelagic, meso- and benthopelagic, prey. Diets of six species and nitrogen stable isotope signatures of 22 species revealed that with a few exceptions most fishes occupied the fourth trophic level and were tertiary consumers. Wide variability in carbon isotopic signatures is discussed with respect to alternative, e.g. possible importance of high Antarctic and chemoautotrophic v. photoautotrophic sub-Antarctic primary production, organic matter sources at the base of deep-sea food webs

    Factors Affecting Perceived Stigma in Leprosy Affected Persons in Western Nepal

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    Background There are various factors which construct the perception of stigma in both leprosy affected persons and unaffected persons. The main purpose of this study was to determine the level of perceived stigma and the risk factors contributing to it among leprosy affected person attending the Green Pastures Hospital, Pokhara municipality of western Nepal. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 135 people affected by leprosy at Green Pastures Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre. Persons above the age of 18 were interviewed using a set of questionnaire form and Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue (EMIC). In addition, two sets of focused group discussions each containing 10 participants from the ward were conducted with the objectives of answering the frequently affected EMIC items. Results Among 135 leprosy affected persons, the median score of perceived stigma was 10 while it ranged from 0–34. Higher perceived stigma score was found in illiterate persons (p = 0.008), participants whose incomes were self-described as inadequate (p = 0.014) and who had changed their occupation due to leprosy (p = 0.018). Patients who lacked information on leprosy (p = 0.025), knowledge about the causes (p = 0.02) and transmission of leprosy (p = 0.046) and those who had perception that leprosy is a severe disease (p<0.001) and is difficult to treat (p<0.001) had higher perceived stigma score. Participants with disfigurement or deformities (p = 0.014), ulcers (p = 0.022) and odorous ulcers (p = 0.043) had higher perceived stigma score. Conclusion The factors associated with higher stigma were illiteracy, perceived economical inadequacy, change of occupation due to leprosy, lack of knowledge about leprosy, perception of leprosy as a severe disease and difficult to treat. Similarly, visible deformities and ulcers were associated with higher stigma. There is an urgent need of stigma reduction strategies focused on health education and health awareness programs in addition to the necessary rehabilitation support

    Freezing and chemical preservatives alter the stable isotope values of carbon and nitrogen of the Asiatic clam (Corbicula fluminea)

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    We tested the impacts of most common sample preservation methods used for aquatic sample materials on the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in clams, a typical baseline indicator organism for many aquatic food web studies utilising stable isotope analysis (SIA). In addition to common chemical preservatives ethanol and formalin, we also assessed the potential impacts of freezing on ÎŽÂčÂłC and ÎŽÂč⁔N values and compared the preserved samples against freshly dried and analysed samples. All preservation methods, including freezing, had significant impacts on ÎŽÂčÂłC and ÎŽÂč⁔N values and the effects in general were greater on the carbon isotope values (1.3-2.2% difference) than on the nitrogen isotope values (0.9-1.0% difference). However, the impacts produced by the preservation were rather consistent within each method during the whole 1 year experiment allowing these to be accounted for, if clams are intended for use in retrospective stable isotope studies

    The finite temperature QCD phase transition with domain wall fermions

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    The domain wall formulation of lattice fermions is expected to support accurate chiral symmetry, even at finite lattice spacing. Here we attempt to use this new fermion formulation to simulate two-flavor, finite temperature QCD near the chiral phase transition. In this initial study, a variety of quark masses, domain wall heights and domain wall separations are explored using an 8^3 x 4 lattice. Both the expectation value of the Wilson line and the chiral condensate show the temperature dependence expected for the QCD phase transition. Further, the desired chiral properties are seen for the chiral condensate, suggesting that the domain wall fermion formulation may be an effective approach for the numerical study of QCD at finite temperature.Comment: 44 pages, 15 figure

    Domain Wall Fermions in Quenched Lattice QCD

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    We study the chiral properties and the validity of perturbation theory for domain wall fermions in quenched lattice QCD at beta=6.0. The explicit chiral symmetry breaking term in the axial Ward-Takahashi identity is found to be very small already at Ns=10, where Ns is the size of the fifth dimension, and its behavior seems consistent with an exponential decay in Ns within the limited range of Ns we explore. From the fact that the critical quark mass, at which the pion mass vanishes as in the case of the ordinary Wilson-type fermion, exists at finite Ns, we point out that this may be a signal of the parity broken phase and investigate the possible existence of such a phase in this model at finite Ns. The rho and pi meson decay constants obtained from the four-dimensional local currents with the one-loop renormalization factor show a good agreement with those obtained from the conserved currents

    Temozolomide plus pegylated interferon alfa-2b as first-line treatment for stage IV melanoma: a multicenter phase II trial of the Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group (DeCOG)

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    Background: Combination of temozolomide (TMZ) with nonpegylated interferon alfa is associated with increased efficacy in terms of response rates compared with monotherapy. A multicenter phase II study was carried out to assess the activity and toxicity of TMZ plus pegylated interferon alfa-2b (peg-IFNα-2b), hypothesizing improved efficacy due to modified pharmacokinetic properties of the novel interferon (IFN) formulation. Patients and methods: In all, 124 patients with stage IV melanoma without prior chemotherapy and no cerebral metastases were treated with 100 Όg peg-IFNα-2b s.c. per week and oral TMZ 200 mg/m2 (days 1-5, every 28 days). Primary study end point was objective response, and secondary end points were overall and progression-free survival (PFS) and safety. Results: In all, 116 patients were assessable for response: 2 (1.7%) had a complete response and 19 (16.4%) a partial response (overall response rate 18.1%). Of total, 25.0% achieved disease stabilization and 56.9% progressed. Overall survival was 9.4 months; PFS was 2.8 months. Grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia occurred in 20.7% and grade 3/4 leukopenia in 23.3%. Conclusions: The efficacy of TMZ plus peg-IFNα-2b in this large phase II study is moderate and comparable to published results of the combination of TMZ with non-peg-IFN. Likewise, the safety profile of peg-IFNα-2b seems to be similar to non-peg-IFN when combined with TM

    Domain wall fermion zero modes on classical topological backgrounds

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    The domain wall approach to lattice fermions employs an additional dimension, in which gauge fields are merely replicated, to separate the chiral components of a Dirac fermion. It is known that in the limit of infinite separation in this new dimension, domain wall fermions have exact zero modes, even for gauge fields which are not smooth. We explore the effects of finite extent in the fifth dimension on the zero modes for both smooth and non-smooth topological configurations and find that a fifth dimension of around ten sites is sufficient to clearly show zero mode effects. This small value for the extent of the fifth dimension indicates the practical utility of this technique for numerical simulations of QCD.Comment: Updated fig. 3-7, small changes in sect. 3, added fig. 8, added more reference

    Enemies with benefits: parasitic endoliths protect mussels against heat stress

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    Positive and negative aspects of species interactions can be context dependant and strongly affected by environmental conditions. We tested the hypothesis that, during periods of intense heat stress, parasitic phototrophic endoliths that fatally degrade mollusc shells can benefit their mussel hosts. Endolithic infestation significantly reduced body temperatures of sun-exposed mussels and, during unusually extreme heat stress, parasitised individuals suffered lower mortality rates than nonparasitised hosts. This beneficial effect was related to the white discolouration caused by the excavation activity of endoliths. Under climate warming, species relationships may be drastically realigned and conditional benefits of phototrophic endolithic parasites may become more important than the costs of infestation
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