620 research outputs found
Personal digital assistants to collect tuberculosis bacteriology data in Peru reduce delays, errors, and workload, and are acceptable to users: cluster randomized controlled trial
SummaryObjectivesTo evaluate the effectiveness of a personal digital assistant (PDA)-based system for collecting tuberculosis test results and to compare this new system to the previous paper-based system. The PDA- and paper-based systems were evaluated based on processing times, frequency of errors, and number of work-hours expended by data collectors.MethodsWe conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial in 93 health establishments in Peru. Baseline data were collected for 19 months. Districts (n=4) were then randomly assigned to intervention (PDA) or control (paper) groups, and further data were collected for 6 months. Comparisons were made between intervention and control districts and within-districts before and after the introduction of the intervention.ResultsThe PDA-based system had a significant effect on processing times (p<0.001) and errors (p=0.005). In the between-districts comparison, the median processing time for cultures was reduced from 23 to 8 days and for smears was reduced from 25 to 12 days. In that comparison, the proportion of cultures with delays >90 days was reduced from 9.2% to 0.1% and the number of errors was decreased by 57.1%. The intervention reduced the work-hours necessary to process results by 70% and was preferred by all users.ConclusionsA well-designed PDA-based system to collect data from institutions over a large, resource-poor area can significantly reduce delays, errors, and person-hours spent processing data
Asymptotic Expansions for the Conditional Sojourn Time Distribution in the -PS Queue
We consider the queue with processor sharing. We study the
conditional sojourn time distribution, conditioned on the customer's service
requirement, in various asymptotic limits. These include large time and/or
large service request, and heavy traffic, where the arrival rate is only
slightly less than the service rate. The asymptotic formulas relate to, and
extend, some results of Morrison \cite{MO} and Flatto \cite{FL}.Comment: 30 pages, 3 figures and 1 tabl
Kappa-symmetric deformations of M5-brane dynamics
We calculate the first supersymmetric and kappa-symmetric derivative
deformation of the M5-brane worldvolume theory in a flat eleven-dimensional
background. By applying cohomological techniques we obtain a deformation of the
standard constraint of the superembedding formalism. The first possible
deformation of the constraint and hence the equations of motion arises at cubic
order in fields and fourth order in a fundamental length scale . The
deformation is unique up to this order. In particular this rules out any
induced Einstein-Hilbert terms on the worldvolume. We explicitly calculate
corrections to the equations of motion for the tensor gauge supermultiplet.Comment: 17 pages. Additional comments in section
Mounding Instability and Incoherent Surface Kinetics
Mounding instability in a conserved growth from vapor is analysed within the
framework of adatom kinetics on the growing surface. The analysis shows that
depending on the local structure on the surface, kinetics of adatoms may vary,
leading to disjoint regions in the sense of a continuum description. This is
manifested particularly under the conditions of instability. Mounds grow on
these disjoint regions and their lateral growth is governed by the flux of
adatoms hopping across the steps in the downward direction. Asymptotically
ln(t) dependence is expected in 1+1- dimensions. Simulation results confirm the
prediction. Growth in 2+1- dimensions is also discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Kappa-symmetric Derivative Corrections to D-brane Dynamics
We show how the superembedding formalism can be applied to construct
manifestly kappa-symmetric higher derivative corrections for the D9-brane. We
also show that all correction terms appear at even powers of the fundamental
length scale . We explicitly construct the first potential correction, which
corresponds to the kappa-symmetric version of the , which one
finds from the four-point amplitude of the open superstring.Comment: 20 pages. Minor changes, added reference
Observations of Low Frequency Solar Radio Bursts from the Rosse Solar-Terrestrial Observatory
The Rosse Solar-Terrestrial Observatory (RSTO; www.rosseobservatory.ie) was
established at Birr Castle, Co. Offaly, Ireland (53 05'38.9", 7 55'12.7") in
2010 to study solar radio bursts and the response of the Earth's ionosphere and
geomagnetic field. To date, three Compound Astronomical Low-cost Low-frequency
Instrument for Spectroscopy and Transportable Observatory (CALLISTO)
spectrometers have been installed, with the capability of observing in the
frequency range 10-870 MHz. The receivers are fed simultaneously by biconical
and log-periodic antennas. Nominally, frequency spectra in the range 10-400 MHz
are obtained with 4 sweeps per second over 600 channels. Here, we describe the
RSTO solar radio spectrometer set-up, and present dynamic spectra of a sample
of Type II, III and IV radio bursts. In particular, we describe fine-scale
structure observed in Type II bursts, including band splitting and rapidly
varying herringbone features
Phenomenological glass model for vibratory granular compaction
A model for weakly excited granular media is derived by combining the free
volume argument of Nowak et al. [Phys. Rev. E 57, 1971 (1998)] and the
phenomenological model for supercooled liquids of Adam and Gibbs [J. Chem.
Phys. 43, 139 (1965)]. This is made possible by relating the granular
excitation parameter \Gamma, defined as the peak acceleration of the driving
pulse scaled by gravity, to a temperature-like parameter \eta(\Gamma). The
resulting master equation is formally identical to that of Bouchaud's trap
model for glasses [J. Phys. I 2, 1705 (1992)]. Analytic and simulation results
are shown to compare favourably with a range of known experimental behaviour.
This includes the logarithmic densification and power spectrum of fluctuations
under constant \eta, the annealing curve when \eta is varied cyclically in
time, and memory effects observed for a discontinuous shift in \eta. Finally,
we discuss the physical interpretation of the model parameters and suggest
further experiments for this class of systems.Comment: 2 references added; some figure labels tweaked. To appear in PR
Giant magnetothermopower of magnon-assisted transport in ferromagnetic tunnel junctions
We present a theoretical description of the thermopower due to
magnon-assisted tunneling in a mesoscopic tunnel junction between two
ferromagnetic metals. The thermopower is generated in the course of thermal
equilibration between two baths of magnons, mediated by electrons. For a
junction between two ferromagnets with antiparallel polarizations, the ability
of magnon-assisted tunneling to create thermopower depends on the
difference between the size of the majority and
minority band Fermi surfaces and it is proportional to a temperature dependent
factor where is the magnon Debye
energy. The latter factor reflects the fractional change in the net
magnetization of the reservoirs due to thermal magnons at temperature
(Bloch's law). In contrast, the contribution of magnon-assisted
tunneling to the thermopower of a junction with parallel polarizations is
negligible. As the relative polarizations of ferromagnetic layers can be
manipulated by an external magnetic field, a large difference results in a magnetothermopower effect. This
magnetothermopower effect becomes giant in the extreme case of a junction
between two half-metallic ferromagnets, .Comment: 9 pages, 4 eps figure
Surface Kinetics and Generation of Different Terms in a Conservative Growth Equation
A method based on the kinetics of adatoms on a growing surface under
epitaxial growth at low temperature in (1+1) dimensions is proposed to obtain a
closed form of local growth equation. It can be generalized to any growth
problem as long as diffusion of adatoms govern the surface morphology. The
method can be easily extended to higher dimensions. The kinetic processes
contributing to various terms in the growth equation (GE) are identified from
the analysis of in-plane and downward hops. In particular, processes
corresponding to the (h -> -h) symmetry breaking term and curvature dependent
term are discussed. Consequence of these terms on the stable and unstable
transition in (1+1) dimensions is analyzed. In (2+1) dimensions it is shown
that an additional (h -> -h) symmetry breaking term is generated due to the
in-plane curvature associated with the mound like structures. This term is
independent of any diffusion barrier differences between in-plane and out
of-plane migration. It is argued that terms generated in the presence of
downward hops are the relevant terms in a GE. Growth equation in the closed
form is obtained for various growth models introduced to capture most of the
processes in experimental Molecular Beam Epitaxial growth. Effect of
dissociation is also considered and is seen to have stabilizing effect on the
growth. It is shown that for uphill current the GE approach fails to describe
the growth since a given GE is not valid over the entire substrate.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure
The Self Model and the Conception of Biological Identity in Immunology
The self/non-self model, first proposed by F.M. Burnet, has dominated immunology for sixty years now. According to this model, any foreign element will trigger an immune reaction in an organism, whereas endogenous elements will not, in normal circumstances, induce an immune reaction. In this paper we show that the self/non-self model is no longer an appropriate explanation of experimental data in immunology, and that this inadequacy may be rooted in an excessively strong metaphysical conception of biological identity. We suggest that another hypothesis, one based on the notion of continuity, gives a better account of immune phenomena. Finally, we underscore the mapping between this metaphysical deflation from self to continuity in immunology and the philosophical debate between substantialism and empiricism about identity
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