1.0 Mm Maps and Radial Density Distributions of Southern Hii/molecular Cloud Complexes

Several 1.0 continuum mapping observations were made of seven southern hemisphere h12/molecular cloud complexes with 65 arcsec resolution. The radial density distribution of the clouds with central luminosity sources was determined observationally. Strong similarities in morphology and general physical conditions were found to exist among all of the southern clouds in the sample

Paraoxonase gene polymorphisms and haplotype analysis in a stroke population

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Improved transfer matrix method without numerical instability

A new improved transfer matrix method (TMM) is presented. It is shown that the method not only overcomes the numerical instability found in the original TMM, but also greatly improves the scalability of computation. The new improved TMM has no extra cost of computing time as the length of homogeneous scattering region becomes large. The comparison between the scattering matrix method(SMM) and our new TMM is given. It clearly shows that our new method is much faster than SMM.Comment: 5 pages,3 figure

Are Asians comfortable with discussing death in health valuation studies? A study in multi-ethnic Singapore

BACKGROUND To characterize ease in discussing death (EID) and its influence on health valuation in a multi-ethnic Asian population and to determine the acceptability of various descriptors of death and "pits"/"all-worst" in health valuation. METHODS In-depth interviews (English or mother-tongue) among adult Chinese, Malay and Indian Singaporeans selected to represent both genders and a wide range of ages/educational levels. Subjects rated using 0–10 visual analogue scales (VAS): (1) EID, (2) acceptability of 8 descriptors for death, and (3) appropriateness of "pits" and "all-worst" as descriptors for the worst possible health state. Subjects also valued 3 health states using VAS followed by time trade-off (TTO). The influence of sociocultural variables on EID and these descriptors was studied using univariable analyses and multiple linear regression (MLR). The influence of EID on VAS/TTO utilities with adjustment for sociocultural variables was assessed using MLR. RESULTS Subjects (n = 63, 35% Chinese, 32% Malay, median age 44 years) were generally comfortable with discussing death (median EID: 8.0). Only education significantly influenced EID (p = 0.045). EID correlated weakly with VAS/TTO scores (range: VAS: -0.23 to 0.07; TTO: -0.14 to 0.11). All subjects felt "passed away", "departed" and "deceased" were most acceptable (median acceptability: 8.0) while "sudden death" and "immediate death" were least acceptable (median acceptability: 5.0). Subjects clearly preferred "all-worst" to "pits" (63% vs. 19%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION Singaporeans were generally comfortable with discussing death and had clear preferences for several descriptors of death and for "all-worst". EID is unlikely to influence health preference measurement in health valuation studies

Declined frontal white matter integrity in Alzheimer’s disease: a diffusion tensor imaging study

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies on structural changes of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have been focused on grey matter atrophy. There is a resurgence of interests on white matter integrity in this prominently increasing patient population. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) provides key information on the microstructural changes beyond macroscopic anatomical imaging by in-vivo tracing molecular diffusion in the brain, and the measured fractional anisotrophy (FA) value may represent axonal integrity of neuronal networks. Data of DTI from AD patients are limited, and the literature is controversial regarding whether the AD process has a greater impact on anterior versus posterior cerebral white matter. METHODS: Eighteen patients with mild AD and 16 age-matched healthy adults were recruited into the study. Demographic features of the two groups were comparable. Data of DTI were collected using a Philips 3.0T MRI scanner. Scan parameters were as follows: B0=800 s/mm2, FOV=224*224*140 mm, resolution=1.75*1.75*2 mm, non-collinear 15 directions was acquired. 3D T1 anatomy was also collected. We processed DTI data with DTI toolbox, and anatomical T1 data with VBM5 toolbox in SPM. Voxel-by-voxel analysis was applied to compare the difference in FA value, and volume of white matter of the normalised brain between the elderly and AD groups. RESULTS: Voxel-based analysis showed no significant difference in white matter volume between the two groups, but FA value was reduced greatly in the left anterior cingulate (−10,37,−3), right anterior cingulate (12,0,28), and left medial frontal lobe (−18,32,−12). Minor reduction was found in other brain regions such as body of the corpus callosum, right midbrain (12,−12,−6), right posterior corpus callosum (8,−44,2), and bilateral, especially right temporal lobe (36,−8,−20), upon right hippocampus. Coordinates (x,y,z) were labelled according to Talairach atlas. CONCLUSION: DTI could be valid and more sensitive than traditional T1 anatomy in detecting microscopic white matter lesions. Our data showed a greater decrement in FA value over the anterior than posterior brain regions, and this decrement was not due to white matter atrophy. Our findings are in line with the retrogenesis hypothesis which predicts reversed demyelination during the process of AD, as the frontal lobe fibres are myelinated relatively late during brain development. These results also support previous findings of our behavioural study that frontal lobe abnormality might be the neural basis for cognitive deficit in AD patients.published_or_final_versionThe 15th Medical Research Conference; Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 16 January 2010. In Hong Kong Medical Journal, 2010, v. 16 suppl 1, p. 21, abstract no. 2

Characteristic Potentials for Mesoscopic Rings Threaded by an Aharonov-Bohm Flux

Electro-static potentials for samples with the topology of a ring and penetrated by an Aharonov-Bohm flux are discussed. The sensitivity of the electron-density distribution to small variations in the flux generates an effective electro-static potential which is itself a periodic function of flux. We investigate a simple model in which the flux sensitive potential leads to a persistent current which is enhanced compared to that of a loop of non-interacting electrons. For sample geometries with contacts the sensitivity of the electro-static potential to flux leads to a flux-induced capacitance. This capacitance gives the variation in charge due to an increment in flux. The flux-induced capacitance is contrasted with the electro-chemical capacitance which gives the variation in charge due to an increment in an electro-chemical potential. The discussion is formulated in terms of characteristic functions which give the variation of the electro-static potential in the interior of the conductor due to an increment in the external control parameters (flux, electro-chemical potentials). Paper submitted to the 16th Nordic Semiconductor Meeting, Laugarvatan, Iceland, June 12-15, 1994. The proceedings will be published in Physica Scripta.Comment: 23 pages + 4 figures, revtex, IBM-RC1955

Quantum theory for mesoscopic electric circuits

A quantum theory for mesoscopic electric circuits in accord with the discreteness of electric charges is proposed. On the basis of the theory, Schr\"{o}dinger equation for the quantum LC-design and L-design is solved exactly. The uncertainty relation for electric charge and current is obtained and a minimum uncertainty state is solved. By introducing a gauge field, a formula for persistent current arising from magnetic flux is obtained from a new point of view.Comment: revtex, no figure