627 research outputs found
Credit Information Sharing and Its Link to Financial Inclusion and Financial Intermediation
In this article, several regression analyses are conducted to analyse the relationship of credit information sharing
(by both private credit bureaus and public credit registries) with financial inclusion and financial intermediation.
We find that there is a positive relationship between information sharing mechanisms and financial
inclusion (measured by account (at a financial institution), borrowed from a financial institution, and domestic
credit). We do not find significant results for bank performance parameters. Whereas this is the case with bank
non-performing loans, the data do not allow (due to low R2) drawing conclusions on other parameters such as
lending minus inflation rate or bank concentration
Special Issue on Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks
( First paragraph) WIRELESS Sensor Networks (WSNs), in their various shapes and forms, have greatly facilitated and enhanced the automated, remote, and intelligent monitoring of a large variety of physical systems. These networks consist of a large number of typically small devices, each incorporating sensing, processing, and wireless communications capabilities. Their use has penetrated a plethora of application domains from industrial and building automation, to environmental, wildlife, and health monitoring
Spectral action and neutrino mass
We propose the extension of the spectral action principle to fermions and
show that the neutrino mass terms appear then naturally as next-order
corrections.Comment: 6 page
Universal scaling at field-induced magnetic phase transitions
We study field-induced magnetic order in cubic lattices of dimers with
antiferromagnetic Heisenberg interactions. The thermal critical exponents at
the quantum phase transition from a spin liquid to a magnetically ordered phase
are determined from Stochastic Series Expansion Quantum Monte Carlo
simulations. These exponents are independent of the interdimer coupling ratios,
and converge to the value obtained by considering the transition as a
Bose-Einstein condensation of magnons, alpha_(BEC) = 1.5. The scaling results
are of direct relevance to the spin-dimer systems TlCuCl_3 and KCuCl_3, and
explain the broad range of exponents reported for field-induced ordering
transitions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 eps-figure
3N Scattering in a Three-Dimensional Operator Formulation
A recently developed formulation for a direct treatment of the equations for
two- and three-nucleon bound states as set of coupled equations of scalar
functions depending only on vector momenta is extended to three-nucleon
scattering. Starting from the spin-momentum dependence occurring as scalar
products in two- and three-nucleon forces together with other scalar functions,
we present the Faddeev multiple scattering series in which order by order the
spin-degrees can be treated analytically leading to 3D integrations over scalar
functions depending on momentum vectors only. Such formulation is especially
important in view of awaiting extension of 3N Faddeev calculations to
projectile energies above the pion production threshold and applications of
chiral perturbation theory 3N forces, which are to be most efficiently treated
directly in such three-dimensional formulation without having to expand these
forces into a partial wave basis.Comment: 25 pages, 0 figure
Anisotropic s-wave superconductivity in MgB_2
It has recently been observed that MgB_2 is a superconductor with a high
transition temperature. Here we propose a model of anisotropic s-wave
superconductivity which consistently describes the observed properties of this
compound, including the thermodynamic and optical response in sintered MgB_2
wires. We also determine the shape of the quasiparticle density of states and
the anisotropy of the upper critical field and the superfluid density which
should be detectable once single-crystal samples become available.Comment: RevTex, 10 pages with 4 eps figure
Robust Food Anticipatory Activity in BMAL1-Deficient Mice
Food availability is a potent environmental cue that directs circadian locomotor activity in rodents. Even though nocturnal rodents prefer to forage at night, daytime food anticipatory activity (FAA) is observed prior to short meals presented at a scheduled time of day. Under this restricted feeding regimen, rodents exhibit two distinct bouts of activity, a nocturnal activity rhythm that is entrained to the light-dark cycle and controlled by the master clock in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) and a daytime bout of activity that is phase-locked to mealtime. FAA also occurs during food deprivation, suggesting that a food-entrainable oscillator (FEO) keeps time in the absence of scheduled feeding. Previous studies have demonstrated that the FEO is anatomically distinct from the SCN and that FAA is observed in mice lacking some circadian genes essential for timekeeping in the SCN. In the current study, we optimized the conditions for examining FAA during restricted feeding and food deprivation in mice lacking functional BMAL1, which is critical for circadian rhythm generation in the SCN. We found that BMAL1-deficient mice displayed FAA during restricted feeding in 12hr light:12hr dark (12L:12D) and 18L:6D lighting cycles, but distinct activity during food deprivation was observed only in 18L:6D. While BMAL1-deficient mice also exhibited robust FAA during restricted feeding in constant darkness, mice were hyperactive during food deprivation so it was not clear that FAA consistently occurred at the time of previously scheduled food availability. Taken together, our findings suggest that optimization of experimental conditions such as photoperiod may be necessary to visualize FAA in genetically modified mice. Furthermore, the expression of FAA may be possible without a circadian oscillator that depends on BMAL1
Hospital Outcomes of Community-Acquired SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant Infection Compared With Influenza Infection in Switzerland
IMPORTANCE: With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to assess the current burden of disease of community-acquired SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in hospitalized patients to tailor appropriate public health policies. Comparisons with better-known seasonal influenza infections may facilitate such decisions.
OBJECTIVE: To compare the in-hospital outcomes of patients hospitalized with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant with patients with influenza.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study was based on a national COVID-19 and influenza registry. Hospitalized patients aged 18 years and older with community-acquired SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant infection who were admitted between January 15 and March 15, 2022 (when B.1.1.529 Omicron predominance was >95%), and hospitalized patients with influenza A or B infection from January 1, 2018, to March 15, 2022, where included. Patients without a study outcome by August 30, 2022, were censored. The study was conducted at 15 hospitals in Switzerland.
EXPOSURES: Community-acquired SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant vs community-acquired seasonal influenza A or B.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Primary and secondary outcomes were defined as in-hospital mortality and admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) for patients with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant or influenza. Cox regression (cause-specific and Fine-Gray subdistribution hazard models) was used to account for time-dependency and competing events, with inverse probability weighting to adjust for confounders with right-censoring at day 30.
RESULTS: Of 5212 patients included from 15 hospitals, 3066 (58.8%) had SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant infection in 14 centers and 2146 patients (41.2%) had influenza A or B in 14 centers. Of patients with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, 1485 (48.4%) were female, while 1113 patients with influenza (51.9%) were female (P = .02). Patients with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant were younger (median [IQR] age, 71 [53-82] years) than those with influenza (median [IQR] age, 74 [59-83] years; P < .001). Overall, 214 patients with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (7.0%) died during hospitalization vs 95 patients with influenza (4.4%; P < .001). The final adjusted subdistribution hazard ratio (sdHR) for in-hospital death for SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant vs influenza was 1.54 (95% CI, 1.18-2.01; P = .002). Overall, 250 patients with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (8.6%) vs 169 patients with influenza (8.3%) were admitted to the ICU (P = .79). After adjustment, the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant was not significantly associated with increased ICU admission vs influenza (sdHR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.88-1.32; P = .50).
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The data from this prospective, multicenter cohort study suggest a significantly increased risk of in-hospital mortality for patients with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant vs those with influenza, while ICU admission rates were similar
Multiferroicity in an organic charge-transfer salt: Electric-dipole-driven magnetism
Multiferroics, showing simultaneous ordering of electrical and magnetic
degrees of freedom, are remarkable materials as seen from both the academic and
technological points of view. A prominent mechanism of multiferroicity is the
spin-driven ferroelectricity, often found in frustrated antiferromagnets with
helical spin order. There, similar to conventional ferroelectrics, the
electrical dipoles arise from an off-centre displacement of ions. However,
recently a different mechanism, namely purely electronic ferroelectricity,
where charge order breaks inversion symmetry, has attracted considerable
interest. Here we provide evidence for this exotic type of ferroelectricity,
accompanied by antiferromagnetic spin order, in a two-dimensional organic
charge-transfer salt, thus representing a new class of multiferroics. Quite
unexpectedly for electronic ferroelectrics, dipolar and spin order arise nearly
simultaneously. This can be ascribed to the loss of spin frustration induced by
the ferroelectric ordering. Hence, here the spin order is driven by the
ferroelectricity, in marked contrast to the spin-driven ferroelectricity in
helical magnets.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures (including 4 pages and 6 figures in supplementary
information). Version 2 with minor errors corrected (legend of Fig. 3c and
definition of vectors e and Q
- …