254 research outputs found
Expression profiling of putative Eucalyptus grandis defence marker genes in response to treatment with methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid
Construction and measurement of the pre-series twin aperture resistive quadrupole magnet for the LHC beam cleaning insertions
CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) requires 48 twin aperture resistive quadrupoles in the beam cleaning insertions. Canada is contributing these magnets to CERN in the framework of the TRIUMF-LHC collaboration contracts. A pre-series magnet was produced by Canadian industry and delivered in March 2001. This magnet incorporates important design changes that resulted from experience with a prototype magnet. The construction of this pre-series magnet and the measurements made at ALSTOM and at CERN are reported. A comparison is made between high precision pole distance measurements and the magnetic measurements performed with a rotating coil mole. Conclusions for series production and possibilities for multipole corrections are outlined. (6 refs)
Morphological and immunohistochemical differences between gonadal maturation delay and early germ cell neoplasia in patients with undervirilization syndromes
A sparse spin qubit array with integrated control electronics
Current implementations of quantum computers suffer from large numbers of
control lines per qubit, becoming unmanageable with system scale up. Here, we
discuss a sparse spin-qubit architecture featuring integrated control
electronics significantly reducing the off-chip wire count. This
quantum-classical hardware integration closes the feasibility gap towards a
CMOS quantum computer.Comment: Paper accompanying an invited talk at the 2019 IEEE International
Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), December 7-11, 201
Establishing a composite endpoint for measuring the effectiveness of geriatric interventions based on older persons' and informal caregivers' preference weights:a vignette study
Background: The Older Persons and Informal Caregivers Survey Minimal Dataset's (TOPICS-MDS) questionnaire which measures relevant outcomes for elderly people was successfully incorporated into over 60 research projects of the Dutch National Care for the Elderly Programme. A composite endpoint (CEP) for this instrument would be helpful to compare effectiveness of the various intervention projects. Therefore, our aim is to establish a CEP for the TOPICS-MDS questionnaire, based on the preferences of elderly persons and informal caregivers. Methods: A vignette study was conducted with 200 persons (124 elderly and 76 informal caregivers) as raters. The vignettes described eight TOPICS-MDS outcomes of older persons (morbidity, functional limitations, emotional wellbeing, pain experience, cognitive functioning, social functioning, self-perceived health and self-perceived quality of life) and the raters assessed the general well-being (GWB) of these vignette cases on a numeric rating scale (0-10). Mixed linear regression analyses were used to derive the preference weights of the TOPICS-MDS outcomes (dependent variable: GWB scores; fixed factors: the eight outcomes; unstandardized coefficients: preference weights). Results: The mixed regression model that combined the eight outcomes showed that the weights varied from 0.01 for social functioning to 0.16 for self-perceived health. A model that included "informal caregiver" showed that the interactions between this variable and each of the eight outcomes were not significant (p > 0.05). Conclusion: A preference-weighted CEP for TOPICS-MDS questionnaire was established based on the preferences of older persons and informal caregivers. With this CEP optimal comparing the effectiveness of interventions in older persons can be realized
Spin lifetime and charge noise in hot silicon quantum dot qubits
We investigate the magnetic field and temperature dependence of the
single-electron spin lifetime in silicon quantum dots and find a lifetime of
2.8 ms at a temperature of 1.1 K. We develop a model based on spin-valley
mixing and find that Johnson noise and two-phonon processes limit relaxation at
low and high temperature respectively. We also investigate the effect of
temperature on charge noise and find a linear dependence up to 4 K. These
results contribute to the understanding of relaxation in silicon quantum dots
and are promising for qubit operation at elevated temperatures.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Action Plan to enhance self-management and early detection of exacerbations in COPD patients; a multicenter RCT
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early detection of exacerbations by COPD patients initiating prompt interventions has shown to be clinically relevant. Until now, research failed to identify the effectiveness of a written individualized Action Plan (AP) to achieve this.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The current multicenter, single-blind RCT with a follow-up period of 6 months, evaluates the hypothesis that individualized AP's reduce exacerbation recovery time. Patients are included from regular respiratory nurse clinics and allocated to either usual care or the AP intervention. The AP provides individualized treatment prescriptions (pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical) related to a color coded symptom status (reinforcement at 1 and 4 months). Although usually not possible in self-management trials, we ensured blinding of patients, using a modified informed consent procedure in which patients give consent to postponed information. Exacerbations in both study arms are defined using the Anthonisen symptom diary-card algorithm. The Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) is assessed every 3-days. CCQ-recovery time of an exacerbation is the primary study outcome. Additionally, healthcare utilization, anxiety, depression, treatment delay, and self-efficacy are assessed at baseline and 6 months. We aim at including 245 COPD patients from 7 hospitals and 5 general practices to capture the a-priori sample size of at least 73 exacerbations per study arm.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This RCT identifies if an AP is an effective component of self-management in patients with COPD and clearly differentiates from existing studies in its design, outcome measures and generalizability of the results considering that the study is carried out in multiple sites including general practices.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>NCT00879281</p
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