2,378 research outputs found
Burden of health behaviours and socioeconomic position on health care expenditure in Ontario [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
Impact of Fiber Structure on the Material Stability and Rupture Mechanisms of Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaques
The rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary circulation remains the main cause of heart attack. As a fiber-oriented structure, the fiber structure, in particular in the fibrous cap (FC), may affect both loading and material strength in the plaque. However, the role of fiber orientation and dispersion in plaque rupture is unclear. Local orientation and dispersion of fibers were calculated for the shoulder regions, mid FC, and regions with intimal thickening (IT) from histological images of 16 human coronary atherosclerotic lesions. Finite element analysis was performed to assess the effect of these properties on mechanical conditions. Fibers in shoulder regions had markedly reduced alignment (Median [interquartile range] 12.9° [6.6, 18.0], <0.05) compared with those in mid FC (6.1° [5.5, 9.0]) and IT regions (6.7° [5.1, 8.6]). Fiber dispersion was highest in shoulders (0.150 [0.121, 0.192]), intermediate in IT (0.119 [0.103, 0.144]), and lowest in mid FC regions (0.093 [0.081, 0.105], <0.05). When anisotropic properties were considered, stresses were significantly higher for the mid FC ( = 0.030) and IT regions ( = 0.002) and no difference was found for the shoulder or global regions. Shear (sliding) stress between fibers in each region and their proportion of maximum principal stress were: shoulder (25.8 kPa [17.1, 41.2], 12.4%), mid FC (13.9 kPa [5.8, 29.6], 13.8%), and IT (36.5 kPa [25.9, 47.3], 15.5%). Fiber structure within the FC has a marked effect on principal stresses, resulting in considerable shear stress between fibers. Fiber structure including orientation and dispersion may determine mechanical strength and thus rupture of atherosclerotic plaques. KThis research is supported by HRUK (RG2638/14/ 16), NSERC (6799-427538-2012), the WD Armstrong Trust, and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre
Boomerang returns unexpectedly
Experimental study of the anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB)
is gathering momentum. The eagerly awaited Boomerang results have lived up to
expectations. They provide convincing evidence in favor of the standard
paradigm: the Universe is close to flat and with primordial fluctuations which
are redolent of inflation. Further scrutiny reveals something even more
exciting however -- two hints that there may be some unforeseen physical
effects. Firstly the primary acoustic peak appears at slightly larger scales
than expected. Although this may be explicable through a combination of mundane
effects, we suggest it is also prudent to consider the possibility that the
Universe might be marginally closed. The other hint is provided by a second
peak which appears less prominent than expected. This may indicate one of a
number of possibilities, including increased damping length or tilted initial
conditions, but also breaking of coherence or features in the initial power
spectrum. Further data should test whether the current concordance model needs
only to be tweaked, or to be enhanced in some fundamental way.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, final version accepted by Ap
What have we already learned from the CMB?
The COBE satellite, and the DMR experiment in particular, was extraordinarily
successful. However, the DMR results were announced about 7 years ago, during
which time a great deal more has been learned about anisotropies in the Cosmic
Microwave Background (CMB). The CMB experiments currently being designed and
built, including long-duration balloons, interferometers, and two space
missions, promise to address several fundamental cosmological issues. We
present our evaluation of what we already know, what we are beginning to learn
now, and what the future may bring.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures. Changes to match version accepted by PAS
Decoherence in rf SQUID Qubits
We report measurements of coherence times of an rf SQUID qubit using pulsed
microwaves and rapid flux pulses. The modified rf SQUID, described by an
double-well potential, has independent, in situ, controls for the tilt and
barrier height of the potential. The decay of coherent oscillations is
dominated by the lifetime of the excited state and low frequency flux noise and
is consistent with independent measurement of these quantities obtained by
microwave spectroscopy, resonant tunneling between fluxoid wells and decay of
the excited state. The oscillation's waveform is compared to analytical results
obtained for finite decay rates and detuning and averaged over low frequency
flux noise.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, submitted to the journal Quantum Information
Processin
Development of Space-Flight Compatible Room-Temperature Electronics for the Lynx X-Ray Microcalorimeter
We are studying the development of space-flight compatible room-temperature electronics for the Lynx x-ray microcalorimeter (LXM) of the Lynx mission. The baseline readout technique for the LXM is microwave SQUID multiplexing. The key modules at room temperature are the RF electronics module and the digital electronics and event processor (DEEP). The RF module functions as frequency converters and mainly consists of local oscillators and I/Q mixers. The DEEP performs demultiplexing and event processing, and mainly consists of field-programmable gate arrays, ADCs, and DACs. We designed the RF electronics and DEEP to be flight ready, and estimated the power, size, and mass of those modules. There are two boxes each for the RF electronics and DEEP for segmentation, and the sizes of the boxes are 13 in: 13 in: 9 in: for the RF electronics and 15.5 in: 11.5 in: 9.5 in: for the DEEP. The estimated masses are 25.1 kgbox for the RF electronics box and 24.1 kgbox for the DEEP box. The maximum operating power for the RF electronics is 141 W or 70.5 Wbox, and for the DEEP box is 615 W or 308 Wbox. The overall power for those modules is 756 W. We describe the detail of the designs as well as the approaches to the estimation of resources, sizes, masses, and powers
Microlensing Results Challenge the Core Accretion Runaway Growth Scenario for Gas Giants
We compare the planet-to-star mass-ratio distribution measured by
gravitational microlensing to core accretion theory predictions from population
synthesis models. The core accretion theory's runaway gas accretion process
predicts a dearth of intermediate-mass giant planets that is not seen in the
microlensing results. In particular, the models predict fewer
planets at mass ratios of than inferred
from microlensing observations. This tension implies that gas giant formation
may involve processes that have hitherto been overlooked by existing core
accretion models or that the planet-forming environment varies considerably as
a function of host-star mass. Variation from the usual assumptions for the
protoplanetary disk viscosity and thickness could reduce this discrepancy, but
such changes might conflict with microlensing results at larger or smaller mass
ratios, or with other observations. The resolution of this discrepancy may have
important implications for planetary habitability because it has been suggested
that the runaway gas accretion process may have triggered the delivery of water
to our inner solar system. So, an understanding of giant planet formation may
help us to determine the occurrence rate of habitable planets.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJ
- …