The prevalence of metabolic syndrome amongst patients with severe mental illness in the community in Hong Kong--a cross sectional study

Background: Patients with severe mental illness are at increased risk of developing metabolic disorders. The risk of metabolic syndrome in the Hong Kong general population is lower than that observed in western countries; however the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with severe mental illness in Hong Kong is unknown. Method: This cross-sectional study aimed to estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with severe mental illness in Hong Kong and to identify the relationships between metabolic syndrome and socio-demographic, clinical and lifestyle factors. Results: A total of 139 patients with a diagnosis of severe mental illness participated in the study. The unadjusted prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 35%. The relative risk of metabolic syndrome in comparison with the general Hong Kong population was 2.008 (95% CI 1.59-2.53, p < 0.001). In a logistic regression model sleep disruption and being prescribed first generation antipsychotics were significantly associated with the syndrome, whilst eating less than 3 portions of fruit/vegetables per day and being married were weakly associated. Conclusion The results demonstrate that metabolic syndrome is highly prevalent and that physical health inequalities in patients with severe mental illness in Hong Kong are similar to those observed in western countries. The results provide sufficient evidence to support the need for intervention studies in this setting and reinforce the requirement to conduct regular physical health checks for all patients with severe mental illness

Applied Remote Sensing Program (ARSP) to state and local government

Environmental surveys of arid land areas (Arizona) in the United States are presented. Maps of soils, vegetation, drainage patterns, and land use are shown. The distribution of uranium deposits, oil and gas pools, is also shown. Legislation pertaining to the preservation of natural resources is discussed

Characterisations of euler n-spheres

Not availabl

F100(3) parallel compressor computer code and user's manual

The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft multiple segment parallel compressor model has been modified to include the influence of variable compressor vane geometry on the sensitivity to circumferential flow distortion. Further, performance characteristics of the F100 (3) compression system have been incorporated into the model on a blade row basis. In this modified form, the distortion's circumferential location is referenced relative to the variable vane controlling sensors of the F100 (3) engine so that the proper solution can be obtained regardless of distortion orientation. This feature is particularly important for the analysis of inlet temperature distortion. Compatibility with fixed geometry compressor applications has been maintained in the model

Calculations of Energy Losses due to Atomic Processes in Tokamaks with Applications to the ITER Divertor

Reduction of the peak heat loads on the plasma facing components is essential for the success of the next generation of high fusion power tokamaks such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) 1 . Many present concepts for accomplishing this involve the use of atomic processes to transfer the heat from the plasma to the main chamber and divertor chamber walls and much of the experimental and theoretical physics research in the fusion program is directed toward this issue. The results of these experiments and calculations are the result of a complex interplay of many processes. In order to identify the key features of these experiments and calculations and the relative role of the primary atomic processes, simple quasi-analytic models and the latest atomic physics rate coefficients and cross sections have been used to assess the relative roles of central radiation losses through bremsstrahlung, impurity radiation losses from the plasma edge, charge exchange and hydrogen radiation losses from the scrape-off layer and divertor plasma and impurity radiation losses from the divertor plasma. This anaysis indicates that bremsstrahlung from the plasma center and impurity radiation from the plasma edge and divertor plasma can each play a significant role in reducing the power to the divertor plates, and identifies many of the factors which determine the relative role of each process. For instance, for radiation losses in the divertor to be large enough to radiate the power in the divertor for high power experiments, a neutral fraction of 10-3 to 10-2 and an impurity recycling rate of netrecycle of ~ 10^16 s m^-3 will be required in the divertor.Comment: Preprint for the 1994 APSDPP meeting, uuencoded and gzipped postscript with 22 figures, 40 pages

Magnetoelectric Jones Dichroism in Atoms

The authors suggest that atomic experiments measuring the interference between magnetic-dipole and electric-field-induced electric-dipole transition amplitudes provide a valuable system to study magnetoelectric Jones effects.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figure

Strong Correlations in Actinide Redox Reactions

Reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions of the redox couples An(VI)/An(V), An(V)/An(IV), and An(IV)/An(III), where An is an element in the family of early actinides (U, Np, and Pu), as well as Am(VI)/Am(V) and Am(V)/Am(III), are modeled by combining density functional theory with a generalized Anderson impurity model that accounts for the strong correlations between the 5f electrons. Diagonalization of the Anderson impurity model yields improved estimates for the redox potentials and the propensity of the actinide complexes to disproportionate.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure, 3 tables. Corrections and clarifications; this version has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Chemical Physic

Beyond mean-field bistability in driven-dissipative lattices: bunching-antibunching transition and quantum simulation

In the present work we investigate the existence of multiple nonequilibrium steady states in a coherently driven XY lattice of dissipative two-level systems. A commonly used mean-field ansatz, in which spatial correlations are neglected, predicts a bistable behavior with a sharp shift between low- and high-density states. In contrast one-dimensional matrix product methods reveal these effects to be artifacts of the mean-field approach, with both disappearing once correlations are taken fully into account. Instead, a bunching-antibunching transition emerges. This indicates that alternative approaches should be considered for higher spatial dimensions, where classical simulations are currently infeasible. Thus we propose a circuit QED quantum simulator implementable with current technology to enable an experimental investigation of the model considered

An updated stellar census of the Quintuplet cluster

Context. Found within the central molecular zone, the Quintuplet is one of the most massive young clusters in the Galaxy. As a consequence it offers the prospect of constraining stellar formation and evolution in extreme environments. However, current observations suggest that it comprises a remarkably diverse stellar population that is difficult to reconcile with an instantaneous formation event. Aims. To better understand the nature of the cluster our aim is to improve observational constraints on the constituent stars. Methods. In order to accomplish this goal we present Hubble Space Telescope/NICMOS+WFC3 photometry and Very Large Telescope/SINFONI+KMOS spectroscopy for ∼100 and 71 cluster members, respectively. Results. Spectroscopy of the cluster members reveals the Quintuplet to be far more homogeneous than previously expected. All supergiants are classified as either O7–8 Ia or O9–B0 Ia, with only one object of earlier (O5 I–III) spectral type. These stars form a smooth morphological sequence with a cohort of seven early-B hypergiants and six luminous blue variables and WN9-11h stars, which comprise the richest population of such stars of any stellar aggregate known. In parallel, we identify a smaller population of late-O hypergiants and spectroscopically similar WN8–9ha stars. No further H-free Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars are identified, leaving an unexpectedly extreme ratio of 13:1 for WC/WN stars. A subset of the O9–B0 supergiants are unexpectedly faint, suggesting they are both less massive and older than the greater cluster population. Finally, no main sequence objects were identifiable. Conclusions. Due to uncertainties over which extinction law to apply, it was not possible to quantitatively determine a cluster age via isochrone fitting. Nevertheless, we find an impressive coincidence between the properties of cluster members preceding the H-free WR phase and the evolutionary predictions for a single, non-rotating 60 M⊙ star; in turn this implies an age of ∼3.0–3.6 Myr for the Quintuplet. Neither the late O-hypergiants nor the low luminosity supergiants are predicted by such a path; we suggest that the former either result from rapid rotators or are the products of binary driven mass-stripping, while the latter may be interlopers. The H-free WRs must evolve from stars with an initial mass in excess of 60 M⊙ but it appears difficult to reconcile their observational properties with theoretical expectations. This is important since one would expect the most massive stars within the Quintuplet to be undergoing core-collapse/SNe at this time; since the WRs represent an evolutionary phase directly preceding this event,their physical properties are crucial to understanding both this process and the nature of the resultant relativistic remnant. As such, the Quintuplet provides unique observational constraints on the evolution and death of the most massive stars forming in the local, high metallicity Universe