354 research outputs found
Understanding service demand for mental health among Australians aged 16 to 64 years according to their possible need for treatment
Background: To inform decisions about mental health resource allocation, planners require reliable estimates of people who report service demand (i.e. people who use or want mental health services) according to their level of possible need. Methods: Using data on 6915 adults aged 16-64 years in Australia's 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, we examined past-year service demand among respondents grouped into four levels of possible need: (a) 12-month mental disorder; (b) lifetime but no 12-month mental disorder; (c) any other indicator of possible need (12-month symptoms or reaction to stressful event, or lifetime hospitalisation); (d) no indicator of possible need. Multivariate logistic regression analyses examined correlates of service demand, separately for respondents in each of levels 1-3. Results: Sixteen per cent of Australian adults reported service demand, of whom one-third did not meet criteria for a 12-month mental disorder (equivalent to 5.7% of the adult population). Treatment patterns tended to follow a gradient defined by level of possible need. For example, service users with a 12-month disorder received, on average, 1.6-3.9 times more consultations than their counterparts in other levels of possible need, and had 1.9-2.2 times higher rates of psychologist consultation. Service users with a lifetime but not 12-month disorder or any other indicator of need consumed a similar average number of services to people with mild 12-month mental disorders, but received relatively fewer services involving the mental health sector. Service demand was associated with increased suicidality and psychological distress in all levels of possible need examined, and with poorer clinical and functional status for those with 12-month or lifetime disorders. Conclusions: Many Australians reporting service demand do not meet criteria for a current mental disorder, but may require services to maintain recovery following a past episode or because they are experiencing symptoms and significant psychological distress
Strings at the bottom of the deformed conifold
We present solutions of the equations of motion of macroscopic F and D
strings extending along the non compact 4D sections of the conifold geometry
and winding around the internal directions. The effect of the Goldstone modes
associated with the position of the strings on the internal manifold can be
seen as a current on the string that prevents it from collapsing and allows the
possibility of static 4D loops. Its relevance in recent models of brane
inflation is discussed.Comment: 9+1 page
Inflation from Warped Space
A long period of inflation can be triggered when the inflaton is held up on
the top of a steep potential by the infrared end of a warped space. We first
study the field theory description of such a model. We then embed it in the
flux stabilized string compactification. Some special effects in the throat
reheating process by relativistic branes are discussed. We put all these
ingredients into a multi-throat brane inflationary scenario. The resulting
cosmic string tension and a multi-throat slow-roll model are also discussed.Comment: 39 pages; v4, added reference, to appear in JHE
On the evolution of cosmic-superstring networks
We model the behaviour of a network of interacting (p,q) strings from IIB
string theory by considering a field theory containing multiple species of
string, allowing us to study the effect of non-intercommuting events due to two
different species crossing each other. This then has the potential for a string
dominated Universe with the network becoming so tangled that it freezes. We
give numerical evidence, explained by a one-scale model, that such freezing
does not take place, with the network reaching a scaling limit where its
density relative to the background increases with N, the number of string
types.Comment: Extra references added showing constraints on cosmic superstrings, 7
pages, 7 figure
Warped Reheating in Multi-Throat Brane Inflation
We investigate in some quantitative details the viability of reheating in
multi-throat brane inflationary scenarios by estimating and comparing the time
scales for the various processes involved. We also calculate within
perturbative string theory the decay rate of excited closed strings into KK
modes and compare with that of their decay into gravitons; we find that in the
inflationary throat the former is preferred. We also find that over a small but
reasonable range of parameters of the background geometry, these KK modes will
preferably tunnel to another throat (possibly containing the Standard Model)
instead of decaying to gravitons due largely to their suppressed coupling to
the bulk gravitons. Once tunneled, the same suppressed coupling to the
gravitons again allows them to reheat the Standard Model efficiently. We also
consider the effects of adding more throats to the system and find that for
extra throats with small warping, reheating still seems viable.Comment: 29 pages, 4 figures, discussions on closed string decay expanded,
references adde
Overproduction of cosmic superstrings
We show that the naive application of the Kibble mechanism seriously
underestimates the initial density of cosmic superstrings that can be formed
during the annihilation of D-branes in the early universe, as in models of
brane-antibrane inflation. We study the formation of defects in effective field
theories of the string theory tachyon both analytically, by solving the
equation of motion of the tachyon field near the core of the defect, and
numerically, by evolving the tachyon field on a lattice. We find that defects
generically form with correlation lengths of order M_s^{-1} rather than H^{-1}.
Hence, defects localized in extra dimensions may be formed at the end of
inflation. This implies that brane-antibrane inflation models where inflation
is driven by branes which wrap the compact manifold may have problems with
overclosure by cosmological relics, such as domain walls and monopoles.Comment: 31 pages, 16 figures, JHEP style; References added; Improved
discussion of initial condition
The effect of extra dimensions on gravity wave bursts from cosmic string cusps
We explore the kinematical effect of having extra dimensions on the gravity
wave emission from cosmic strings. Additional dimensions both round off cusps,
and reduce the probability of their formation. We recompute the gravity wave
burst, taking into account these two factors, and find a potentially
significant damping on the gravity waves of the strings.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures, published versio
The Influence of Minimalist Footwear on Knee and Ankle Load during Depth Jumping
Plyometric training is used by athletes to promote strength and explosive power. However plyometric activities such as depth jumping are associated with a high incidence of injuries. This study examined the influence of minimalist and conventional footwear on the loads experienced by the patellofemoral joint and Achilles tendon. Patellofemoral and Achilles tendon forces were obtained from ten male participants using an eight camera 3D motion capture system and force platform data as they completed depth jumps in both footwear conditions. Differences between footwear were calculated using paired t-tests. The results show that the minimalist footwear were associated with significantly lower patellofemoral contact force/ pressure and also knee abduction moment. It is therefore recommended based on these observations that those who are susceptible to knee pain should consider minimalist footwear when performing plyometric training
Spontaneous Creation of Inflationary Universes and the Cosmic Landscape
We study some gravitational instanton solutions that offer a natural
realization of the spontaneous creation of inflationary universes in the brane
world context in string theory. Decoherence due to couplings of higher
(perturbative) modes of the metric as well as matter fields modifies the
Hartle-Hawking wavefunction for de Sitter space. Generalizing this new
wavefunction to be used in string theory, we propose a principle in string
theory that hopefully will lead us to the particular vacuum we live in, thus
avoiding the anthropic principle. As an illustration of this idea, we give a
phenomenological analysis of the probability of quantum tunneling to various
stringy vacua. We find that the preferred tunneling is to an inflationary
universe (like our early universe), not to a universe with a very small
cosmological constant (i.e., like today's universe) and not to a 10-dimensional
uncompactified de Sitter universe. Such preferred solutions are interesting as
they offer a cosmological mechanism for the stabilization of extra dimensions
during the inflationary epoch.Comment: 52 pages, 7 figures, 1 table. Added discussion on supercritical
string vacua, added reference
Inflation and the Scale Dependent Spectral Index: Prospects and Strategies
We consider the running of the spectral index as a probe of both inflation
itself, and of the overall evolution of the very early universe. Surveying a
collection of simple single field inflationary models, we confirm that the
magnitude of the running is relatively consistent, unlike the tensor amplitude,
which varies by orders of magnitude. Given this target, we confirm that the
running is potentially detectable by future large scale structure or 21 cm
observations, but that only the most futuristic measurements can distinguish
between these models on the basis of their running. For any specified
inflationary scenario, the combination of the running index and unknown
post-inflationary expansion history induces a theoretical uncertainty in the
predicted value of the spectral index. This effect can easily dominate the
statistical uncertainty with which Planck and its successors are expected to
measure the spectral index. More positively, upcoming cosmological experiments
thus provide an intriguing probe of physics between TeV and GUT scales by
constraining the reheating history associated with any specified inflationary
model, opening a window into the "primordial dark age" that follows the end of
inflation.Comment: 32 pages. v2 and v3 Minor reference updates /clarification
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