102 research outputs found
Tolkien\u27s Allusive Backstory: Immortality and Belief in the Fantasy Frame
Mortality and immortality underlie the “emotional truth” (95) of Tolkien’s backstory, a truth which draws us as readers into a world in which longing and loss, death and deathlessness, are the foundation of a sub-created world that we as readers desire. The fantasy frame in Tolkien’s legendarium is extremely deep, and has been highly influential on other creators
Potential model calculations and predictions for heavy quarkonium
We investigate the spectroscopy and decays of the charmonium and upsilon
systems in a potential model consisting of a relativistic kinetic energy term,
a linear confining term including its scalar and vector relativistic
corrections and the complete perturbative one-loop quantum chromodynamic short
distance potential. The masses and wave functions of the various states are
obtained using a variational technique, which allows us to compare the results
for both perturbative and nonperturbative treatments of the potential. As well
as comparing the mass spectra, radiative widths and leptonic widths with the
available data, we include a discussion of the errors on the parameters
contained in the potential, the effect of mixing on the leptonic widths, the
Lorentz nature of the confining potential and the possible
interpretation of recently discovered charmonium-like states.Comment: Physical Review published versio
Constraints on the dark energy equation of state from recent supernova data
Measurements suggest that our universe has a substantial dark energy
component. The most recent data on type Ia supernovae give a dark energy
density which is in good agreement with other measurements if the dark energy
is assumed to be a cosmological constant. Here we examine to what extent that
data can put constraints on a more general equation of state for the dark
energy.Comment: Journal version with additional reference
A community study of the effect of particulate matter on blood measures of inflammation and thrombosis in an elderly population
BACKGROUND: The mechanism behind the triggering effect of fine particulate matter (PM) air pollution on cardiovascular events remains elusive. We postulated that elevated levels of PM would be associated with increased blood levels of inflammatory and thrombotic markers in elderly individuals. We also hypothesized that elevated PM would increase levels of cytokines in individuals with heart disease. METHODS: We measured these blood markers in 47 elderly individuals with (23) and without (16 COPD and 8 healthy) cardiovascular disease (CVD) on 2 or 3 mornings over a 5 or 10-day period between February 2000 and March 2002. Blood measures were paired with residence level outdoor PM measured by nephelometry. Analyses determined the within-individual effect of 24-hour averaged outdoor PM on blood measures. RESULTS: Analyses found no statistically significant effect of a same day 10 ug/m(3 )increase in fine PM on log transformed levels of CRP 1.21 fold-rise [95% CI: 0.86, 1.70], fibrinogen 1.02 fold-rise [95% CI: 0.98, 1.06], or D-dimer 1.02 fold-rise [95% CI: 0.88, 1.17] in individuals with CVD. One-day lagged analyses in the CVD subgroup found similar null results. These same models found no change in these blood markers at the same-day or 1-day lag in the group without CVD. In 21 individuals with CVD, a 10 μg/m(3 )increase in same-day PM was associated with a 1.3 fold-rise [95% CI: 1.1, 1.7] in the level of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. CONCLUSION: We did not find consistent effects of low ambient levels of PM on blood measures of inflammation or thrombosis in elderly individuals
Holographic Vitrification
We establish the existence of stable and metastable stationary black hole
bound states at finite temperature and chemical potentials in global and planar
four-dimensional asymptotically anti-de Sitter space. We determine a number of
features of their holographic duals and argue they represent structural
glasses. We map out their thermodynamic landscape in the probe approximation,
and show their relaxation dynamics exhibits logarithmic aging, with aging rates
determined by the distribution of barriers.Comment: 100 pages, 25 figure
Computerised interpretation of fetal heart rate during labour (INFANT): a randomised controlled trial
Background. Continuous electronic fetal heart-rate monitoring is widely used during labour, and computerised interpretation could increase its usefulness. We aimed to establish whether the addition of decision-support software to assist in the interpretation of cardiotocographs affected the number of poor neonatal outcomes.
Methods. In this unmasked randomised controlled trial, we recruited women in labour aged 16 years or older having continuous electronic fetal monitoring, with a singleton or twin pregnancy, and at 35 weeks’ gestation or more at 24 maternity units in the UK and Ireland. They were randomly assigned (1:1) to decision support with the INFANT system or no decision support via a computer-generated stratified block randomisation schedule. The primary outcomes were poor neonatal outcome (intrapartum stillbirth or early neonatal death excluding lethal congenital anomalies, or neonatal encephalopathy, admission to the neonatal unit within 24 h for ≥48 h with evidence of feeding difficulties, respiratory illness, or encephalopathy with evidence of compromise at birth), and developmental assessment at age 2 years in a subset of surviving children. Analyses were done by intention to treat. This trial is completed and is registered with the ISRCTN Registry, number 98680152.
Findings. Between Jan 6, 2010, and Aug 31, 2013, 47062 women were randomly assigned (23515 in the decision-support group and 23547 in the no-decision-support group) and 46042 were analysed (22987 in the decision-support group and 23055 in the no-decision-support group). We noted no difference in the incidence of poor neonatal outcome between the groups—172 (0·7%) babies in the decision-support group compared with 171 (0·7%) babies in the no-decision-support group (adjusted risk ratio 1·01, 95% CI 0·82–1·25). At 2 years, no significant differences were noted in terms of developmental assessment.
Interpretation. Use of computerised interpretation of cardiotocographs in women who have continuous electronic fetal monitoring in labour does not improve clinical outcomes for mothers or babies
Structure, Function, and Evolution of the Thiomonas spp. Genome
Bacteria of the Thiomonas genus are ubiquitous in extreme environments, such as arsenic-rich acid mine drainage (AMD). The genome of one of these strains, Thiomonas sp. 3As, was sequenced, annotated, and examined, revealing specific adaptations allowing this bacterium to survive and grow in its highly toxic environment. In order to explore genomic diversity as well as genetic evolution in Thiomonas spp., a comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) approach was used on eight different strains of the Thiomonas genus, including five strains of the same species. Our results suggest that the Thiomonas genome has evolved through the gain or loss of genomic islands and that this evolution is influenced by the specific environmental conditions in which the strains live
The James Webb Space Telescope Mission
Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies,
expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling
for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least .
With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000
people realized that vision as the James Webb Space Telescope. A
generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of
the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the
scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000
team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image
quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief
history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing
program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite
detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space
Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure
Prevalence and architecture of de novo mutations in developmental disorders.
The genomes of individuals with severe, undiagnosed developmental disorders are enriched in damaging de novo mutations (DNMs) in developmentally important genes. Here we have sequenced the exomes of 4,293 families containing individuals with developmental disorders, and meta-analysed these data with data from another 3,287 individuals with similar disorders. We show that the most important factors influencing the diagnostic yield of DNMs are the sex of the affected individual, the relatedness of their parents, whether close relatives are affected and the parental ages. We identified 94 genes enriched in damaging DNMs, including 14 that previously lacked compelling evidence of involvement in developmental disorders. We have also characterized the phenotypic diversity among these disorders. We estimate that 42% of our cohort carry pathogenic DNMs in coding sequences; approximately half of these DNMs disrupt gene function and the remainder result in altered protein function. We estimate that developmental disorders caused by DNMs have an average prevalence of 1 in 213 to 1 in 448 births, depending on parental age. Given current global demographics, this equates to almost 400,000 children born per year
A nonspatial methodology for the analysis of two-way proximity data incorporating the distance-density hypothesis
This paper presents a nonspatial operationalization of the Krumhansl (1978, 1982) distancedensity model of similarity. This model assumes that the similarity between two objects i and j is a function of both the interpoint distance between i and j and the density of other stimulus points in the regions surrounding i and j . We review this conceptual model and associated empirical evidence for such a specification. A nonspatial, tree-fitting methodology is described which is sufficiently flexible to fit a number of competing hypotheses of similarity formation. A sequential, unconstrained minimization algorithm is technically presented together with various program options. Three applications are provided which demonstrate the flexibility of the methodology. Finally, extensions to spatial models, three-way analyses, and hybrid models are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45746/1/11336_2005_Article_BF02295285.pd
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