Psychometric properties of the Farsi version of the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory (F-EPSI) among Iranian University men and women

Background: Limited research has validated eating pathology assessments in Iranian men and women. The purpose of the current study was to translate and validate a Farsi version of the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory (F-EPSI) in Iranian university students. Methods: Men (n = 279) and women (n = 486) completed questionnaires including the F-EPSI. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that the F-EPSI had an acceptable fit to the data and supported the eight-factor model. The scale was partially invariant across genders. Men reported higher scores on Excessive Exercise and Muscle Building subscales, and women reported higher scores on Body Dissatisfaction and Restricting subscales. The F-EPSI subscales had good 5- to 6-month test–retest reliability. The F-EPSI demonstrated convergent validity with clinical impairment, eating pathology, and body mass index (BMI). Finally, individuals scoring above the Clinical Impairment Assessment (CIA) cutoffs reported higher scores on the F-EPSI subscales, further supporting convergent validity of the scale. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the F-EPSI will enable researchers to examine eating pathology symptoms among men and women in Iran

Geometry-dependent scattering through quantum billiards: Experiment and theory

We present experimental studies of the geometry-specific quantum scattering in microwave billiards of a given shape. We perform full quantum mechanical scattering calculations and find an excellent agreement with the experimental results. We also carry out the semiclassical calculations where the conductance is given as a sum of all classical trajectories between the leads, each of them carrying the quantum-mechanical phase. We unambiguously demonstrate that the characteristic frequencies of the oscillations in the transmission and reflection amplitudes are related to the length distribution of the classical trajectories between the leads, whereas the frequencies of the probabilities can be understood in terms of the length difference distribution in the pairs of classical trajectories. We also discuss the effect of non-classical "ghost" trajectories that include classically forbidden reflection off the lead mouths.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Diffraction and boundary conditions in semi-classical open billiards

The conductance through open quantum dots or quantum billiards shows fluctuations, that can be explained as interference between waves following different paths between the leads of the billiard. We examine such systems by the use of a semi-classical Green's functions. In this paper we examine how the choice of boundary conditions at the lead mouths affect the diffraction. We derive a new formula for the S-matrix element. Finally we compare semi-classical simulations to quantum mechanical ones, and show that this new formula yield superior results.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

On the absence of appreciable half-life changes in alpha emitters cooled in metals to 1 Kelvin and below

The recent suggestion that dramatic changes may occur in the lifetime of alpha and beta decay when the activity, in a pure metal host, is cooled to a few Kelvin, is examined in the light of published low temperature nuclear orientation (LTNO) experiments, with emphasis here on alpha decay. In LTNO observations are made of the anisotropy of radioactive emissions with respect to an axis of orientation. Correction of data for decay of metallic samples held at temperatures at and below 1 Kelvin for periods of days and longer has been a routine element of LTNO experiments for many years. No evidence for any change of half life on cooling, with an upper level of less than 1%, has been found, in striking contrast to the predicted changes, for alpha decay, of several orders of magnitude. The proposal that such dramatic changes might alleviate problems of disposal of long-lived radioactive waste is shown to be unrealistic.Comment: 27 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Nucl.Phys.A. Revised version, including quantitative analysis of the sensitivity of nuclear orientation experiments, discussed in this work, to changes of alpha-decay lifetimes in metals at low temperatures. Conclusions remain unchange

Shoulder instability surgery in Norway: The first report from a multicenter register, with 1-year follow-up

Background and purpose. In January 2008, we established the Norwegian Register for Shoulder Instability Surgery. We report on the establishment, the baseline data, and the results at 1-year follow-up. Methods. Primary and revision shoulder stabilization is reported by the surgeon on a 1-page paper form containing the patient's history of shoulder injury, clinical findings, and perioperative findings. The WOSI questionnaire for self-assessment of shoulder function is completed at baseline and at follow-up after 1, 2, and 5 years. To evaluate the completeness of registration, we compared our data with those in the Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR). Results. The NPR reported 39 hospitals performing shoulder stabilizations. 20 of these started to report to our register during 2009, and 464 procedures (404 primary, 59 revisions) were included up to December 31, 2009, which represented 54% of the procedures reported to NPR. Of the 404 primary procedures, 83% were operations due to anterior instability, 10% were operations due to posterior instability, and 7% were operations due to multidirectional instability. Arthroscopic soft tissue techniques were used in 88% of the patients treated for primary anterior instability and open coracoid transfer was used in 10% of such patients. At 1-year follow-up of 213 patients, we found a statistically significantly improved WOSI score in all types of instability. 10% of the patients treated with arthroscopic anterior labral repair and 16% treated with arthroscopic posterior labral repair reported recurrent instability. No statistically significant difference in functional improvement or rate of recurrence was found between these groups. Interpretation. The functional results are in accordance with those in previous studies. However, the incidence of recurrent instability 1 year after arthroscopic labral repair is higher than expected.publishedVersio

Whispering gallery modes in open quantum billiards

The poles of the S-matrix and the wave functions of open 2D quantum billiards with convex boundary of different shape are calculated by the method of complex scaling. Two leads are attached to the cavities. The conductance of the cavities is calculated at energies with one, two and three open channels in each lead. Bands of overlapping resonance states appear which are localized along the convex boundary of the cavities and contribute coherently to the conductance. These bands correspond to the whispering gallery modes appearing in the classical calculations.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures in jpg and gif forma

Improved microscopic-macroscopic approach incorporating the effects of continuum states

The Woods-Saxon-Strutinsky method (the microscopic-macroscopic method) combined with Kruppa's prescription for positive energy levels, which is necessary to treat neutron rich nuclei, is studied to clarify the reason for its success and to propose improvements for its shortcomings. The reason why the plateau condition is met for the Nilsson model but not for the Woods-Saxon model is understood in a new interpretation of the Strutinsky smoothing procedure as a low-pass filter. Essential features of Kruppa's level density is extracted in terms of the Thomas-Fermi approximation modified to describe spectra obtained from diagonalization in truncated oscillator bases. A method is proposed which weakens the dependence on the smoothing width by applying the Strutinsky smoothing only to the deviations from a reference level density. The BCS equations are modified for the Kruppa's spectrum, which is necessary to treat the pairing correlation properly in the presence of continuum. The potential depth is adjusted for the consistency between the microscopic and macroscopic Fermi energies. It is shown, with these improvements, that the microscopic-macroscopic method is now capable to reliably calculate binding energies of nuclei far from stability.Comment: 66 pages, 29 figures, 1 tabl

Stratus 14 : fourteenth setting of the Stratus Ocean Reference Station cruise on board RV Cabo de Hornos April 14 - 30, 2015 Valparaiso, Chile

The Ocean Reference Station at 20°S, 85°W under the stratus clouds west of northern Chile is being maintained to provide ongoing climate-quality records of surface meteorology, air-sea fluxes of heat, freshwater, and momentum, and of upper ocean temperature, salinity, and velocity variability. The Stratus Ocean Reference Station (ORS Stratus) is supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Observation Program. It is recovered and redeployed annually, with past cruises that have come between October and January. This cruise was conducted on the Chilean research vessel Cabo de Hornos. During the 2015 cruise on the Cabo de Hornos to the ORS Stratus site, the primary activities were the recovery of the previous (Stratus 13) WHOI surface mooring, deployment of the new Stratus 14 WHOI surface mooring, in-situ calibration of the buoy meteorological sensors by comparison with instrumentation installed on the ship and CTD casts near the moorings. Surface drifters were also launched along the track.Funding was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under Grant No. NA140AR432015

Time-resolved dynamics of electron wave packets in chaotic and regular quantum billiards with leads

We perform numerical studies of the wave packet propagation through open quantum billiards whose classical counterparts exhibit regular and chaotic dynamics. We show that for t less or similar to tau (tau being the Heisenberg time), the features in the transmitted and reflected currents are directly related to specific classical trajectories connecting the billiard leads. In contrast, the long-time asymptotics of the wave packet dynamics is qualitatively different for classical and quantum billiards. In particularly, the decay of the quantum system obeys a power law that depends on the number of decay channels, and is not sensitive to the nature of classical dynamics (chaotic or regular).Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure