1,751 research outputs found
Vortex in a relativistic perfect isentropic fluid and Nambu Goto dynamics
By a weak deformation of the cylindrical symmetry of the potential vortex in
a relativistic perfect isentropic fluid, we study the possible dynamics of the
central line of this vortex. In "stiff" material the Nanbu-Goto equations are
obtainedComment: 11 pages, Accepted for publication in Physical Review
Assessing the effects of repeated handling on physiology and condition of semi-precocial nestlings
Repeated exposure to elevated levels of glucocorticoids during development can have long-term detrimental effects on survival and fitness, potentially associated with increased telomere attrition. Nestling birds are regularly handled for ecological research, yet few authors have considered the potential for handling-induced stress to influence hormonally-mediated phenotypic development or bias interpretations of subsequent focal measurements. We experimentally manipulated the handling experience of the semi-precocial nestlings of European Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus to simulate handling in a typical field study and examined cumulative effects on physiology and condition in late postnatal development. Neither baseline corticosterone (the primary glucocorticoid in birds), telomere length nor body condition varied with the number of handling episodes. The absence of a response could be explained if Storm Petrels did not perceive handling to be stressful or if there is dissociation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis from stressful stimuli in early life. Eliciting a response to a stressor may be maladaptive for cavity-dwelling young that are unable to escape or defend themselves. Furthermore, avoiding elevated overall glucocorticoid exposure may be particularly important in a long-lived species, in which accelerated early-life telomere erosion could impact negatively upon longevity. We propose that the level of colony-wide disturbance induced by investigator handling of young could be important in underlining species-specific responses. Storm Petrel nestlings appear unresponsive to investigator handling within the limits of handling in a typical field study and handling at this level should not bias physiological and morphological measurements
Effects of transportation on gastric pH and gastric ulceration in mares
Background: Transportation has been suggested as a risk factor for gastric ulceration in horses, but limited evidence supports this assumption. Animals: Twenty-six Standardbred, Thoroughbred, and Warmblood mares from a university teaching herd. Methods: Twelve mares were confined for 12 hours, overnight, in reproductive stocks with indwelling nasogastric tubes (NGTs) to assess pH of gastric fluid (GF). Gastric ulceration was assessed endoscopically before and after confinement. Subsequently, 26 horses were transported for 12 hours, overnight, in 2 consignments. During transportation, GF was aspirated from indwelling NGT placed in the same 12 mares used in the confinement study, and gastric ulceration was assessed endoscopically before and after transportation in all horses. Results: The median pH of GF in confined horses was 1.70-2.49 at each sampling point, and there was no apparent effect on gastric squamous ulcer scores. The median pH of GF from the same 12 horses at corresponding sampling times during transportation was 6.82-7.22. Transportation was associated with increased gastric squamous ulcer scores, particularly in horses fasted for gastroscopy and NGT placement immediately before departure. Gastric emptying appeared delayed after transportation in horses fed before departure. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Transportation is associated with increased gastric squamous ulceration and with increased pH of GF. These findings may be a consequence of impaired gastric emptying and reflux of alkaline small intestinal content, with factors such as duodenal bile salts and short-chain fatty acids mediating mucosal injury
Context is everything: A CCER on Impact Assessment at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
The future of pediatric pulmonology: A survey of division directors, assessment of current research funding, and discussion of workforce trends
Adequacy of the US workforce in pediatric pulmonology has been a source of serious concern within the field for some time, as it has been for several pediatric subspecialties. Contributing factors have been thought to include low fill rates of fellowship training programs, aging, and retirement rates of the subspecialist population, and the perception of insufficient numbers of specialists in some regions to meet clinical care needs. Several approaches to assessing workforce needs have already been described, and stakeholder groups are currently working on additional analyses. Although the recent report by Harris et al. captured a broad snapshot of workforce perceptions of 485 pediatric pulmonologists, this study (reporting data collected in 2014) did not address the future scope of practice
Stability of Bose condensed atomic Li-7
We study the stability of a Bose condensate of atomic Li in a (harmonic
oscillator) magnetic trap at non-zero temperatures. In analogy to the stability
criterion for a neutron star, we conjecture that the gas becomes unstable if
the free energy as a function of the central density of the cloud has a local
extremum which conserves the number of particles. Moreover, we show that the
number of condensate particles at the point of instability decreases with
increasing temperature, and that for the temperature interval considered, the
normal part of the gas is stable against density fluctuations at this point.Comment: Submitted for publication in Physical Review
Finite temperature scaling theory for the collapse of Bose-Einstein condensate
We show how to apply the scaling theory in an inhomogeneous system like
harmonically trapped Bose condensate at finite temperatures. We calculate the
temperature dependence of the critical number of particles by a scaling theory
within the Hartree-Fock approximation and find that there is a dramatic
increase in the critical number of particles as the condensation point is
approached.Comment: Published online [6 pages, 3 figures
Demixing in mesoscopic boson-fermion clouds inside cylindrical harmonic traps: quantum phase diagram and role of temperature
We use a semiclassical three-fluid thermodynamic model to evaluate the
phenomena of spatial demixing in mesoscopic clouds of fermionic and bosonic
atoms at high dilution under harmonic confinement, assuming repulsive
boson-boson and boson-fermion interactions and including account of a bosonic
thermal cloud at finite temperature T. The finite system size allows three
different regimes for the equilibrium density profiles at T=0: a fully mixed
state, a partially mixed state in which the overlap between the boson and
fermion clouds is decreasing, and a fully demixed state where the two clouds
have zero overlap. We propose simple analytical rules for the two cross-overs
between the three regimes as functions of the physical system parameters and
support these rules by extensive numerical calculations. A universal ``phase
diagram'' expressed in terms of simple scaling parameters is shown to be valid
for the transition to the regime of full demixing, inside which we identify
several exotic configurations for the two phase-separated clouds in addition to
simple ones consisting of a core of bosons enveloped by fermions and "vice
versa". With increasing temperature the main role of the growing thermal cloud
of bosons is to transform some exotic configurations into more symmetric ones,
until demixing is ultimately lost. For very high values of boson-fermion
repulsive coupling we also report demixing between the fermions and the
thermally excited bosons.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
The association between dry needling-induced twitch response and change in pain and muscle function in patients with low back pain: a quasi-experimental study
Objective
To investigate the relationship between dry needling-induced twitch response and change in pain, disability, nociceptive sensitivity, and lumbar multifidus muscle function, in patients with low back pain (LBP).
Design
Quasi-experimental study.
Setting
Department of Defense Academic Institution.
Participants
Sixty-six patients with mechanical LBP (38 men, 28 women, age: 41.3 [9.2] years).
Interventions
Dry needling treatment to the lumbar multifidus muscles between L3 and L5 bilaterally.
Main outcome measures
Examination procedures included numeric pain rating, the Modified Oswestry Disability Index, pressure algometry, and real-time ultrasound imaging assessment of lumbar multifidus muscle function before and after dry needling treatment. Pain pressure threshold (PPT) was used to measure nocioceptive sensitivity. The percent change in muscle thickness from rest to contraction was calculated to represent muscle function. Participants were dichotomized and compared based on whether or not they experienced at least one twitch response on the most painful side and spinal level during dry needling.
Results
Participants experiencing local twitch response during dry needling exhibited greater immediate improvement in lumbar multifidus muscle function than participants who did not experience a twitch (thickness change with twitch: 12.4 [6]%, thickness change without twitch: 5.7 [11]%, mean difference adjusted for baseline value, 95%CI: 4.4 [1 to 8]%). However, this difference was not present after 1-week, and there were no between-groups differences in disability, pain intensity, or nociceptive sensitivity.
Conclusions
The twitch response during dry needling might be clinically relevant, but should not be considered necessary for successful treatment
Light Lambda-Lambda Hypernuclei and the Onset of Stability for Lambda-Xi Hypernuclei
New Faddeev-Yakubovsky calculations for light Lambda-Lambda hypernuclei are
presented in order to assess the self consistency of the Lambda-Lambda
hypernuclear binding-energy world data and the implied strength of the
Lambda-Lambda interaction, in the wake of recent experimental reports on
Lambda-Lambda-4H and Lambda-Lambda-6He. Using Gaussian soft-core simulations of
Nijmegen one-boson-exchange model interactions, the Nijmegen soft-core model
NSC97 simulations are found close to reproducing the recently reported binding
energy of Lambda-Lambda-6He, but not those of other species. For stranger
systems, Faddeev calculations of light Lambda-Xi hypernuclei, using a
simulation of the strongly attractive Lambda-Xi interactions due to the same
model, suggest that Lambda-Xi-6He marks the onset of nuclear stability for Xi
hyperons.Comment: 5 pages, 3 postscript figures; fig.2 replaced, minor changes,
accepted as Rapid Communication in PR
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