234 research outputs found
Distribution of aortic mechanical prosthetic valve closure sound model parameters on the surface of chest
Cataloged from PDF version of article.It has been previously proposed that heart valve
closure sounds can be modeled by a sum of decaying sinusoids,
based on the hypothesis that the heart cavity, heart walls, major
vessels, and other structures in the chest constitute a frequency
selective linear acoustic system and this system is excited by the
rapidly decelerating valve occluder. In this study, distribution
of the parameters of this model for the second heart sound is
investigated. For this purpose, heart sounds of 10 patients who
have a St. Jude-type bileaflet mechanical heart valve prosthesis
in aortic position are recorded. Recordings are performed at 12
different locations on the surface of the chest. To reliably assign
representative parameters to each recording site, signal averaging,
model order selection, and a special filtration technique are
employed. The results of the analyses are discussed in relation to
the above hypothesis on the heart sound generation mechanism.
It is observed that site-to-site variation of frequencies of modes
does not exceed the accuracy limit of proposed analysis method,
but energies of these modes vary on the surface of the chest, and
as a result of statistical analysis, it appears that energy of some
modes are significantly different between two recording sites
On the peculiarities in the rotational frequency evolution of isolated neutron stars
The measurements of pulsar frequency second derivatives have shown that they
are times larger than expected for standard pulsar spin-down law,
and are even negative for about half of pulsars. We explain these paradoxical
results on the basis of the statistical analysis of the rotational parameters
, and of the subset of 295 pulsars taken mostly
from the ATNF database. We have found a strong correlation between
and for both and , as well as between
and . We interpret these dependencies as evolutionary ones due
to being nearly proportional to the pulsars' age. The derived
statistical relations as well as "anomalous" values of are well
described by assuming the long-time variations of the spin-down rate. The
pulsar frequency evolution, therefore, consists of secular change of
, and according to the power
law with , the irregularities, observed within a timespan as a
timing noise, and the variations on the timescale larger than that timespan --
several tens of years.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in ApSS, in the
proceedings of the conference "Isolated Neutron Stars: from the Interior to
the Surface", London, April 2006; eds. S. Zane, R. Turolla and D. Pag
First hours of the GRB 030329 optical afterglow
We present the first results of the observations of the extremely bright
optical afterglow of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 030329 with the 1.5m Russian-Turkish
telescope RTT150 (TUBITAK National Observatory, Bakyrlytepe, Turkey). RTT150
was one of the first 1.5m-class telescopes pointed to the afterglow.
Observations were started approximately 6 hours after the burst. During the
first 5 hours of our observations the afterglow faded exactly as a power law
with index -1.19+-0.01 in each of the BVRI Bessel filters. After that, in all
BVRI filters simultaneously we observe a steepening of the power law light
curve. The power law decay index smoothly approaches the value ~= -1.9,
observed by other observatories later. This power law break occurs at t-t_0
=0.57 days and lasts for +-0.1 days. We observe no variability above the
gradual fading with the upper limits 10--1% on time scales 0.1--1000s. Spectral
flux distribution in four BVRI filters corresponds to the power law spectrum
with spectral index \alpha=0.66+-0.01. The change of the power law decay index
in the end of our observations can be interpreted as a signature of collimated
ultrarelativistic jet. The afterglow flux distribution in radio, optical and
x-rays is consistent with synchrotron spectrum. We continue our observations of
this unique object with RTT150.Comment: Astronomy Letters, Vol. 29, No. 9, p. 573; 6 pages, 5 figures;
pagination corrected; the original Russian version can be found at
http://hea.iki.rssi.ru/~br/030329/pfh030329.pd
Spatial variability of precipitation regimes over Turkey
Turkish annual precipitation regimes are analysed to provide large-scale perspective and redefine precipitation regions. Monthly total precipitation data are employed for 107 stations (1963–2002). Precipitation regime shape (seasonality) and magnitude (size) are classified using a novel multivariate methodology. Six shape and five magnitude classes are identified, which exhibit clear spatial structure. A composite (shape and magnitude) regime classification reveals dominant controls on spatial variability of precipitation. Intra-annual timing and magnitude of precipitation is highly variable due to seasonal shifts in Polar and Subtropical zones and physiographic factors. Nonetheless, the classification methodology is shown to be a powerful tool that identifies physically-interpretable precipitation regions: (1) coastal regimes for Marmara, coastal Aegean, Mediterranean and Black Sea; (2) transitional regimes in continental Aegean and Southeast Anatolia; and (3) inland regimes across central and Eastern Anatolia. This research has practical implications for understanding water resources, which are under ever growing pressure in Turkey
Simultaneous growth of self-patterned carbon nanotube forests with dual height scales
In this study, we report on a unique, one-step fabrication technique enabling the simultaneous synthesis of vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (VA-MWCNTs) with dual height scales through alcohol catalyzed chemical vapor deposition (ACCVD). Regions of VA-MWCNTs with different heights were well separated from each other leading to a self-patterning on the surface. We devised a unique layer-by-layer process for application of catalyst and inhibitor precursors on oxidized Si (100) surfaces before the ACCVD step to achieve a hierarchical arrangement. Patterning could be controlled by adjusting the molarity and application sequence of precursors. Contact angle measurements on these self-patterned surfaces indicated that manipulation of these hierarchical arrays resulted in a wide range of hydrophobic behavior changing from that of a sticky rose petal to a lotus leaf. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry
A Left Temporal Arachnoid Cyst in a Patient with Early Onset Schizophrenia
Arachnoid cysts are mostly asymptomatic and diagnosed incidentally. In the literature, some case studies report a probable etiological association between arachnoid cysts and psychiatric disorders. We report an early onset schizophrenia case who had a left temporal arachnoid cyst and who had an inadequate response to antipsychotic treatment. We discuss the potential association between arachnoid cysts and psychiatric disorders in the light of the literature
Recent Progress on Anomalous X-ray Pulsars
I review recent observational progress on Anomalous X-ray Pulsars, with an
emphasis on timing, variability, and spectra. Highlighted results include the
recent timing and flux stabilization of the notoriously unstable AXP 1E
1048.1-5937, the remarkable glitches seen in two AXPs, the newly recognized
variety of AXP variability types, including outbursts, bursts, flares, and
pulse profile changes, as well as recent discoveries regarding AXP spectra,
including their surprising hard X-ray and far-infrared emission, as well as the
pulsed radio emission seen in one source. Much has been learned about these
enigmatic objects over the past few years, with the pace of discoveries
remaining steady. However additional work on both observational and theoretical
fronts is needed before we have a comprehensive understanding of AXPs and their
place in the zoo of manifestations of young neutron stars.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; to appear in proceedings of the conference
"Isolated Neutron Stars: From the Interior to the Surface" eds. S. Zane, R.
Turolla, D. Page; Astrophysics & Space Science in pres
Large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the cervix
Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) of the uterine cervix is a rare and aggressive malignancy with poor prognosis even in its early stage, despite multimodality treatment strategy. Here, we report a case of a woman with clinical polypoid stage IB LCNEC of the cervix, which was detected in her 6-week postpartum checkup. A literature review was also conducted to evaluate current therapeutic approaches and potential new strategies
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