Controlling Chimeras

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Coupled phase oscillators model a variety of dynamical phenomena in nature and technological applications. Non-local coupling gives rise to chimera states which are characterized by a distinct part of phase-synchronized oscillators while the remaining ones move incoherently. Here, we apply the idea of control to chimera states: using gradient dynamics to exploit drift of a chimera, it will attain any desired target position. Through control, chimera states become functionally relevant; for example, the controlled position of localized synchrony may encode information and perform computations. Since functional aspects are crucial in (neuro-)biology and technology, the localized synchronization of a chimera state becomes accessible to develop novel applications. Based on gradient dynamics, our control strategy applies to any suitable observable and can be generalized to arbitrary dimensions. Thus, the applicability of chimera control goes beyond chimera states in non-locally coupled systems.CB acknowledges support by NSF grant DMS– 1265253 and partially by BMBF grant 01GQ1005B. The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement no. 626111 (CB). The work is part of the Dynamical Systems Interdisciplinary Network, University of Copenhagen (EAM)

Regional center for complex colonoscopy: yield of neoplasia in patients with prior incomplete colonoscopy

Background and Aims Incomplete colonoscopy increases the risk of incident proximal colon cancer postcolonoscopy. Incomplete colonoscopy is often followed by barium enema or CT colonography. We sought to describe the yield of completion colonoscopy in a regional center for complex colonoscopy. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study of 520 consecutive patients referred to a single colonoscopist over a 14-year period for completion colonoscopy after a previous incomplete examination. Results Colonoscopy was completed to the cecum in 506 of 520 patients (97.3%). A total of 913 conventional adenomas was removed in 277 patients (adenoma detection rate 53.3%). There were 184 adenomas ≥ 1 cm in size or with advanced pathology. There were 525 serrated-class lesions removed in 175 patients, including 54 sessile serrated polyps in 26 patients and 41 hyperplastic polyps greater than 1 cm in 26 patients. Nine colorectal cancers were found. We estimated that approximately 57% of the conventional adenomas, 58% of the sessile serrated polyps, 27% of the hyperplastic polyps, and all 9 cancers detected by the completion colonoscopy were beyond the extent of the previous examination. Conclusions The yield of completion colonoscopy in a cohort of patients with previous failed cecal intubation was substantial. Regional centers for complex colonoscopy can provide high rates of cecal intubation in cases of incomplete colonoscopy and high yields of lesions in these cases. The regional center for complex colonoscopy is an important medical service

NHS maternity care response to human trafficking in the UK: Views of women and clinicians

NHS clinicians have a key role in the identification, referral and care of people trafficked in the UK. However, little is known about clinicians’ response to trafficking or their training needs in this area. In addition the views and experiences of trafficked individuals who accessed NHS services or which NHS services they were likely to access were unknown. We aimed to provide evidence to inform the NHS response to human trafficking, specifically the identification and safe referral of trafficked people and provision of appropriate care to meet their health needs. Data relevant to maternity are presented

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in the colored Hubbard model

The Hubbard model is reformulated in terms of different ``colored'' fermion species for the electrons or holes at different lattice sites. Antiferromagnetic ordering or d-wave superconductivity can then be described in terms of translationally invariant expectation values for colored composite scalar fields. A suitable mean field approximation for the two dimensional colored Hubbard model shows indeed phases with antiferromagnetic ordering or d-wave superconductivity at low temperature. At low enough temperature the transition to the antiferromagnetic phase is of first order. The present formulation also allows an easy extension to more complicated microscopic interactions.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure

Assimilation of 3D radar reflectivities with an ensemble Kalman filter on the convective scale

An ensemble data assimilation system for 3D radar reflectivity data is introduced for the convection-permitting numerical weather prediction model of the COnsortium for Small-scale MOdelling (COSMO) based on the Kilometre-scale ENsemble Data Assimilation system (KENDA), developed by Deutscher Wetterdienst and its partners. KENDA provides a state-of-the-art ensemble data assimilation system on the convective scale for operational data assimilation and forecasting based on the Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF). In this study, the Efficient Modular VOlume RADar Operator is applied for the assimilation of radar reflectivity data to improve short-term predictions of precipitation. Both deterministic and ensemble forecasts have been carried out. A case-study shows that the assimilation of 3D radar reflectivity data clearly improves precipitation location in the analysis and significantly improves forecasts for lead times up to 4 h, as quantified by the Brier Score and the Continuous Ranked Probability Score. The influence of different update rates on the noise in terms of surface pressure tendencies and on the forecast quality in general is investigated. The results suggest that, while high update rates produce better analyses, forecasts with lead times of above 1 h benefit from less frequent updates. For a period of seven consecutive days, assimilation of radar reflectivity based on the LETKF is compared to that of DWD's current operational radar assimilation scheme based on latent heat nudging (LHN). It is found that the LETKF competes with LHN, although it is still in an experimental phase

Opportunities, challenges and concerns for the implementation and uptake of pelvic floor muscle assessment and exercises during the childbearing years: protocol for a critical interpretive synthesis

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.BACKGROUND: Pregnancy and childbirth are important risk factors for urinary incontinence (UI) in women. Pelvic floor muscle exercises (PFME) are effective for prevention of UI. Guidelines for the management of UI recommend offering pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) to women during their first pregnancy as a preventive strategy. The objective of this review is to understand the relationships between individual, professional, inter-professional and organisational opportunities, challenges and concerns that could be essential to maximise the impact of PFMT during childbearing years and to effect the required behaviour change. METHODS: Following systematic searches to identify sources for inclusion, we shall use a critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) approach to produce a conceptual model, mapping the relationships between individual, professional, inter-professional and organisational factors and the implementation, acceptability and uptake of PFME education, assessment and training during the childbearing years. Purposive sampling will be used to identify potentially relevant material relating to topics or areas of interest which emerge as the review progresses. A wide range of empirical and non-empirical sources will be eligible for inclusion to encompass the breadth of relevant individual, professional, inter-professional and organisational issues relating to PFME during childbearing years. Data analysis and synthesis will identify key themes, concepts, connections and relationships between these themes. Findings will be interpreted in relation to existing frameworks of implementation, attitudes and beliefs of individuals and behaviour change. We will collate examples to illustrate relationships expressed in the conceptual model and identify potential links between the model and drivers for change. DISCUSSION: The CIS review findings and resulting conceptual model will illustrate relationships between factors that might affect the implementation, acceptability and uptake of PFME education, assessment and training during the childbearing years. The model will inform the development and evaluation of a training package to support midwives with implementation and delivery of effective PFME during the antenatal period. The review forms part of the first phase of the United Kingdom National Institute for Health Research funded 'Antenatal Preventative Pelvic floor Exercises And Localisation (APPEAL)' programme (grant number: RP-PG-0514-20002) to prevent poor health linked to pregnancy and childbirth-related UI. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO: CRD42016042792.The APPEAL project is funded by a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) programme grant for applied research (RP-PG-0514-20002). MP and SD were supported in their contribution to the development of the research proposal by the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) for the South West Peninsula. CM is part-funded by the CLAHRC West Midlands, and DB is part-funded by the CLAHRC South London

Muon and Cosmogenic Neutron Detection in Borexino

Borexino, a liquid scintillator detector at LNGS, is designed for the detection of neutrinos and antineutrinos from the Sun, supernovae, nuclear reactors, and the Earth. The feeble nature of these signals requires a strong suppression of backgrounds below a few MeV. Very low intrinsic radiogenic contamination of all detector components needs to be accompanied by the efficient identification of muons and of muon-induced backgrounds. Muons produce unstable nuclei by spallation processes along their trajectory through the detector whose decays can mimic the expected signals; for isotopes with half-lives longer than a few seconds, the dead time induced by a muon-related veto becomes unacceptably long, unless its application can be restricted to a sub-volume along the muon track. Consequently, not only the identification of muons with very high efficiency but also a precise reconstruction of their tracks is of primary importance for the physics program of the experiment. The Borexino inner detector is surrounded by an outer water-Cherenkov detector that plays a fundamental role in accomplishing this task. The detector design principles and their implementation are described. The strategies adopted to identify muons are reviewed and their efficiency is evaluated. The overall muon veto efficiency is found to be 99.992% or better. Ad-hoc track reconstruction algorithms developed are presented. Their performance is tested against muon events of known direction such as those from the CNGS neutrino beam, test tracks available from a dedicated External Muon Tracker and cosmic muons whose angular distribution reflects the local overburden profile. The achieved angular resolution is 3-5 deg and the lateral resolution is 35-50 cm, depending on the impact parameter of the crossing muon. The methods implemented to efficiently tag cosmogenic neutrons are also presented.Comment: 42 pages. 32 figures on 37 files. Uses JINST.cls. 1 auxiliary file (defines.tex) with TEX macros. submitted to Journal of Instrumentatio

Low-energy (anti)neutrino physics with Borexino: Neutrinos from the primary proton-proton fusion process in the Sun

The Sun is fueled by a series of nuclear reactions that produce the energy that makes it shine. The primary reaction is the fusion of two protons into a deuteron, a positron and a neutrino. These neutrinos constitute the vast majority of neutrinos reaching Earth, providing us with key information about what goes on at the core of our star. Several experiments have now confirmed the observation of neutrino oscillations by detecting neutrinos from secondary nuclear processes in the Sun; this is the first direct spectral measurement of the neutrinos from the keystone proton-proton fusion. This observation is a crucial step towards the completion of the spectroscopy of pp-chain neutrinos, as well as further validation of the LMA-MSW model of neutrino oscillations.Comment: Proceedings from NOW (Neutrino Oscillation Workshop) 201

Solar neutrino with Borexino: results and perspectives

Borexino is a unique detector able to perform measurement of solar neutrinos fluxes in the energy region around 1 MeV or below due to its low level of radioactive background. It was constructed at the LNGS underground laboratory with a goal of solar $^{7}$Be neutrino flux measurement with 5\% precision. The goal has been successfully achieved marking the end of the first stage of the experiment. A number of other important measurements of solar neutrino fluxes have been performed during the first stage. Recently the collaboration conducted successful liquid scintillator repurification campaign aiming to reduce main contaminants in the sub-MeV energy range. With the new levels of radiopurity Borexino can improve existing and challenge a number of new measurements including: improvement of the results on the Solar and terrestrial neutrino fluxes measurements; measurement of pp and CNO solar neutrino fluxes; search for non-standard interactions of neutrino; study of the neutrino oscillations on the short baseline with an artificial neutrino source (search for sterile neutrino) in context of SOX project.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

New limits on heavy sterile neutrino mixing in 8B{^{8}\rm{B}}-decay obtained with the Borexino detector

If heavy neutrinos with mass $m_{\nu_{H}}\geq$2$m_e$ are produced in the Sun via the decay ${^8\rm{B}} \rightarrow {^8\rm{Be}} + e^+ + \nu_H$ in a side branch of pp-chain, they would undergo the observable decay into an electron, a positron and a light neutrino $\nu_{H}\rightarrow\nu_{L}+e^++e^-$. In the present work Borexino data are used to set a bound on the existence of such decays. We constrain the mixing of a heavy neutrino with mass 1.5 MeV $\leq m_{\nu_{H}} \le$ 14 MeV to be $|U_{eH}|^2\leq (10^{-3}-4\times10^{-6})$ respectively. These are tighter limits on the mixing parameters than obtained in previous experiments at nuclear reactors and accelerators.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure