COVID-19 Related Mobility Reduction: Heterogenous Effects on Sleep and Physical Activity Rhythms

Mobility restrictions imposed to suppress coronavirus transmission can alter physical activity (PA) and sleep patterns. Characterization of response heterogeneity and their underlying reasons may assist in tailoring customized interventions. We obtained wearable data covering baseline, incremental movement restriction and lockdown periods from 1824 city-dwelling, working adults aged 21 to 40 years, incorporating 206,381 nights of sleep and 334,038 days of PA. Four distinct rest activity rhythms (RARs) were identified using k-means clustering of participants' temporally distributed step counts. Hierarchical clustering of the proportion of time spent in each of these RAR revealed 4 groups who expressed different mixtures of RAR profiles before and during the lockdown. Substantial but asymmetric delays in bedtime and waketime resulted in a 24 min increase in weekday sleep duration with no loss in sleep efficiency. Resting heart rate declined 2 bpm. PA dropped an average of 38%. 4 groups with different compositions of RAR profiles were found. Three were better able to maintain PA and weekday/weekend differentiation during lockdown. The least active group comprising 51 percent of the sample, were younger and predominantly singles. Habitually less active already, this group showed the greatest reduction in PA during lockdown with little weekday/weekend differences. Among different mobility restrictions, removal of habitual social cues by lockdown had the largest effect on PA and sleep. Sleep and resting heart rate unexpectedly improved. RAR evaluation uncovered heterogeneity of responses to lockdown and can identify characteristics of persons at risk of decline in health and wellbeing.Comment: 30 pages, 3 main figures, 3 tables, 4 supplementary figure

Torsion and accelerating expansion of the universe in quadratic gravitation

Several exact cosmological solutions of a metric-affine theory of gravity with two torsion functions are presented. These solutions give a essentially different explanation from the one in most of previous works to the cause of the accelerating cosmological expansion and the origin of the torsion of the spacetime. These solutions can be divided into two classes. The solutions in the first class define the critical points of a dynamical system representing an asymptotically stable de Sitter spacetime. The solutions in the second class have exact analytic expressions which have never been found in the literature. The acceleration equation of the universe in general relativity is only a special case of them. These solutions indicate that even in vacuum the spacetime can be endowed with torsion, which means that the torsion of the spacetime has an intrinsic nature and a geometric origin. In these solutions the acceleration of the cosmological expansion is due to either the scalar torsion or the pseudoscalar torsion function. Neither a cosmological constant nor dark energy is needed. It is the torsion of the spacetime that causes the accelerating expansion of the universe in vacuum. All the effects of the inflation, the acceleration and the phase transformation from deceleration to acceleration can be explained by these solutions. Furthermore, the energy and pressure of the matter without spin can produce the torsion of the spacetime and make the expansion of the universe decelerate as well as accelerate.Comment: 20 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with gr-qc/0604006, arXiv:1110.344

Feasibility and usability of a regional hub model for colorectal cancer services during the COVID-19 pandemic

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic produced unprecedented challenges, at a global level, in the provision of cancer care. With the ongoing need in the delivery of life-saving cancer treatment, the surgical management of patients with colorectal cancer required prompt significant transformation. The aim of this retrospective study is to report the outcome of a bespoke regional Cancer Hub model in the delivery of elective and essential colorectal cancer surgery, at the height of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. 168 patients underwent colorectal cancer surgery from April 1st to June 30th of 2020. Approximately 75% of patients operated upon underwent colonic resection, of which 47% were left-sided, 34% right-sided and 12% beyond total mesorectal excision surgeries. Around 79% of all resectional surgeries were performed via laparotomy, and the remainder 21%, robotically or laparoscopically. Thirty-day complication rate, for Clavien-Dindo IIIA and above, was 4.2%, and 30-day mortality rate was 0.6%. Re-admission rate, within 30 days post-discharge, was 1.8%, however, no patient developed COVID-19 specific complications post-operatively and up to 28 days post-discharge. The established Cancer Hub offered elective surgical care for patients with colorectal cancer in a centralised, timely and efficient manner, with acceptable post-operative outcomes and no increased risk of contracting COVID-19 during their inpatient stay. We offer a practical model of care that can be used when elective surgery "hubs" for streamlined delivery of elective care needs to be established in an expeditious fashion, either due to the COVID-19 pandemic or any other future pandemics

On Quantum Effects in Soft Leptogenesis

It has been recently shown that quantum Boltzman equations may be relevant for leptogenesis. Quantum effects, which lead to a time-dependent CP asymmetry, have been shown to be particularly important for resonant leptogenesis when the asymmetry is generated by the decay of two nearly degenerate states. In this work we investigate the impact of the use of quantum Boltzman equations in the framework ``soft leptogenesis'' in which supersymmetry soft-breaking terms give a small mass splitting between the CP-even and CP-odd right-handed sneutrino states of a single generation and provide the CP-violating phase to generate the lepton asymmetry.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures. Replacement to match published versio

Flavoured soft leptogenesis and natural values of the B term

We revisit flavour effects in soft leptogenesis relaxing the assumption of universality for the soft supersymmetry breaking terms. We find that with respect to the case in which the heavy sneutrinos decay with equal rates and equal CP asymmetries for all lepton flavours, hierarchical flavour configurations can enhance the efficiency by more than two orders of magnitude. This translates in more than three order of magnitude with respect to the one-flavour approximation. We verify that lepton flavour equilibration effects related to off-diagonal soft slepton masses are ineffective for damping these large enhancements. We show that soft leptogenesis can be successful for unusual values of the relevant parameters, allowing for $B\sim {\cal O}({\rm TeV})$ and for values of the washout parameter up to $m_{\rm eff}/m_* \sim 5\times 10^{3}$.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures postscript, Minor changes to match the published version in JHE

Chinese and Korean Characters Engage the Same Visual Word Form Area in Proficient Early Chinese-Korean Bilinguals

A number of recent studies consistently show an area, known as the visual word form area (VWFA), in the left fusiform gyrus that is selectively responsive for visual words in alphabetic scripts as well as in logographic scripts, such as Chinese characters. However, given the large difference between Chinese characters and alphabetic scripts in terms of their orthographic rules, it is not clear at a fine spatial scale, whether Chinese characters engage the same VWFA in the occipito-temporal cortex as alphabetic scripts. We specifically compared Chinese with Korean script, with Korean script serving as a good example of alphabetic writing system, but matched to Chinese in the overall square shape. Sixteen proficient early Chinese-Korean bilinguals took part in the fMRI experiment. Four types of stimuli (Chinese characters, Korean characters, line drawings and unfamiliar Chinese faces) were presented in a block-design paradigm. By contrasting characters (Chinese or Korean) to faces, presumed VWFAs could be identified for both Chinese and Korean characters in the left occipito-temporal sulcus in each subject. The location of peak response point in these two VWFAs were essentially the same. Further analysis revealed a substantial overlap between the VWFA identified for Chinese and that for Korean. At the group level, there was no significant difference in amplitude of response to Chinese and Korean characters. Spatial patterns of response to Chinese and Korean are similar. In addition to confirming that there is an area in the left occipito-temporal cortex that selectively responds to scripts in both Korean and Chinese in early Chinese-Korean bilinguals, our results show that these two scripts engage essentially the same VWFA, even at the level of fine spatial patterns of activation across voxels. These results suggest that similar populations of neurons are engaged in processing the different scripts within the same VWFA in early bilinguals

Femtogram Doubly Clamped Nanomechanical Resonators Embedded in a High-Q Two-Dimensional Photonic Crystal Nanocavity

We demonstrate a new optomechanical device system which allows highly efficient transduction of femtogram nanobeam resonators. Doubly clamped nanomechanical resonators with mass as small as 25 fg are embedded in a high-finesse two-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavity. Optical transduction of the fundamental flexural mode around 1 GHz was performed at room temperature and ambient conditions, with an observed displacement sensitivity of 0.94 fm/Hz^(1/2). Comparison of measurements from symmetric and asymmetric double-beam devices reveals hybridization of the mechanical modes where the structural symmetry is shown to be the key to obtain a high mechanical quality factor. Our novel configuration opens the way for a new category of "NEMS-in-cavity" devices based on optomechanical interaction at the nanoscale.Comment: Nano Lett. 201

A need for “good eyes”: Experiences told by patients diagnosed with psychosis

This study highlights experiences of psychiatric care described by patients diagnosed with psychosis. The aim was to investigate how patients, based on earlier experiences, described their wishes and needs regarding the psychiatric care system. Data comprised material from four focus groups; analysis used an inductive thematic approach. Relationships with staff emerged as a recurring theme. During periods of psychosis, patients needed staff to act as “parental figures,” providing care, safety, and help in dealing with overwhelming stimulation from the outside word. In the ensuing struggle to devise a livable life, the need for relationships recurred. In this phase, staff needed to give their time, provide support through information, and mirror the patient's capacity and hope. The patient's trials were described as threatened by a lack of continuity and non-listening professionals. It was important for staff to listen and understand, and to see and respect the patients' viewpoints

Nursing heroism in the 21st Century'

Abstract Background The Vivian Bullwinkel Oration honours the life and work of an extraordinary nurse. Given her story and that of her World War II colleagues, the topic of nursing heroism in the 21st century could not be more germane. Discussion Is heroism a legitimate part of nursing, or are nurses simply 'just doing their job' even when facing extreme personal danger? In this paper I explore the place and relevance of heroism in contemporary nursing. I propose that nursing heroism deserves a broader appreciation and that within the term lie many hidden, 'unsung' or 'unrecorded' heroisms. I also challenge the critiques of heroism that would condemn it as part of a 'militarisation' of nursing. Finally, I argue that nursing needs to be more open in celebrating our heroes and the transformative power of nursing achievements. Summary The language of heroism may sound quaint by 21st Century standards but nursing heroism is alive and well in the best of our contemporary nursing ethos and practice.</p