Free initial wave packets and the long-time behavior of the survival and nonescape probabilities

The behavior of both the survival S(t) and nonescape P(t) probabilities at long times for the one-dimensional free particle system is shown to be closely connected to that of the initial wave packet at small momentum. We prove that both S(t) and P(t) asymptotically exhibit the same power-law decrease at long times, when the initial wave packet in momentum representation behaves as O(1) or O(k) at small momentum. On the other hand, if the integer m becomes greater than 1, S(t) and P(t) decrease in different power-laws at long times.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Title and organization changed, however the results not changed, To appear in Phys. Rev.

Nonparametric Data Assimilation Scheme for Land Hydrological Applications

Data assimilation, which relies on explicit knowledge of dynamical models, is a well-known approach that addresses models' limitations due to various reasons, such as errors in input and forcing data sets. This approach, however, requires intensive computational efforts, especially for high-dimensional systems such as distributed hydrological models. Alternatively, data-driven methods offer comparable solutions when the physics underlying the models are unknown. For the first time in a hydrological context, a nonparametric framework is implemented here to improve model estimates using available observations. This method uses Takens delay coordinate method to reconstruct the dynamics of the system within a Kalman filtering framework, called the Kalman-Takens filter. A synthetic experiment is undertaken to fully investigate the capability of the proposed method by comparing its performance with that of a standard assimilation framework based on an adaptive unscented Kalman filter (AUKF). Furthermore, using terrestrial water storage (TWS) estimates obtained from the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment mission, both filters are applied to a real case scenario to update different water storages over Australia. In situ groundwater and soil moisture measurements within Australia are used to further evaluate the results. The Kalman-Takens filter successfully improves the estimated water storages at levels comparable to the AUKF results, with an average root-mean-square error reduction of 37.30% for groundwater and 12.11% for soil moisture estimates. Additionally, the Kalman-Takens filter, while reducing estimation complexities, requires a fraction of the computational time, that is, ~8 times faster compared to the AUKF approach

Target and (Astro-)WISE technologies - Data federations and its applications

After its first implementation in 2003 the Astro-WISE technology has been rolled out in several European countries and is used for the production of the KiDS survey data. In the multi-disciplinary Target initiative this technology, nicknamed WISE technology, has been further applied to a large number of projects. Here, we highlight the data handling of other astronomical applications, such as VLT-MUSE and LOFAR, together with some non-astronomical applications such as the medical projects Lifelines and GLIMPS, the MONK handwritten text recognition system, and business applications, by amongst others, the Target Holding. We describe some of the most important lessons learned and describe the application of the data-centric WISE type of approach to the Science Ground Segment of the Euclid satellite.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, Proceedngs IAU Symposium No 325 Astroinformatics 201

Determinants of HbA1c reduction with FreeStyle Libre flash glucose monitoring (FLARE-NL 5)

Aims: To identify factors predicting HbA1c reduction in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) using FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring (FSL-FGM). Methods: Data from a 12-month prospective nation-wide FSL registry were used and analysed with multivariable regression. For the present study we included patients with hypoglycaemia unawareness or unexpected hypoglycaemias (n = 566) and persons who did not reach acceptable glycaemic control (HbA1c > 70 mmol/mol (8.5%)) (n = 294). People with other indications for use, such as sensation loss of the fingers or individuals already using FSL-FGM or rtCGM, were excluded (37%). Results: Eight hundred and sixty persons (55% male with a mean age of 46.7 (+/- 16.4) years) were included. Baseline HbA1c was 65.1 (+/- 14.5) mmol/mol (8.1 +/- 1.3%), 75% of the patients had type 1 DM and 37% had microvascular complications. Data concerning HbA1c was present for 482 (56.0%) at 6 months and 423 (49.2%) persons at 12 months. A significant reduction in HbA1c (>= 5 mmol/mol (0.5%)) was present in 187 (22%) persons. For these persons, median HbA1c reduction was -9.0 [-13.0, -4.0] mmol/mol (-0.82 [-1.19, -0.37]%) at 6 months and -9.0 [-15.0, -7.0] mmol/mol (-0.82 [-1.37, -0.64]%) at 12 months. In multi-variable regression analysis with age, gender and SF-12 physical and mental component scores as covariates, only baseline HbA1c was significant: -0.319 (SE 0.025; p <0.001; R-2 = 0.240 for the model). In exploratory analysis among subgroups with different indications for FSL-FGM use (hypoglycaemia unawareness or persistently high HbA1c) and persons with a significant HbA1c decrease over the study period, baseline HbA1c remained the only significant predictor. Conclusions: Among the variables we analysed in the present study, only high HbA1c at baseline predicts significant HbA1c reduction during FSL-CGM use

Memory effects induced by initial switching conditions

Initial-switching refers to the way in which the decay of an initially confined state begins, as the barrier isolating it from the exterior is relaxed. We study these effects in the context of Longhi's version of the Fano-Anderson model. Most authors assume the sudden approximation where the coupling is turned on instantaneously. We consider a finite rise time T, both numerically and analytically. When the coupling is ramped up linearly over a switching time T, we show that the asymptotic survival amplitude acquires a phase T and is modulated by a factor (sin T)/T. Several other results relating to the solution of the model are obtained. All site amplitudes have the same decay constant during the exponential decay regime. In the asymptotic regime, the amplitude and phase of decay oscillations depend on the initial-switching profile, but the period does not.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.

A retrospective cross-sectional study on tinnitus prevalence and disease associations in the Dutch population-based cohort Lifelines

Tinnitus is a highly prevalent disorder with heterogenous presentation and limited treatment options. Better understanding of its prevalence and disease and lifestyle risk factor associations in the general population is necessary to identify the underlying mechanisms. To this end, we quantified the preva-lence of tinnitus and identified disease and lifestyle risk factors associated with tinnitus within a gen-eral population cohort. For this study, we used the Lifelines population-based cohort study to perform a retrospective cross-sectional study. Lifelines is a large, multi-generational, prospective cohort study that includes over 167,0 0 0 participants (or 10% of the population) from the northern Netherlands. For this study, conducted between 2018 and 2021, data from the Lifelines population-based cohort study was used to perform a cross-sectional study. Adult participants (age >= 18 years) with data on tinnitus per-ception (collected once between 2011 and 2015) were included in this study. An elastic-net regression analysis was performed with tinnitus as the dependent variable and parameters of diseases and lifestyle risk factors (collected once between 2006 and 2014)-including hearing problems, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, psychiatric disorders, thyroid disease, inflammatory disease, and functional somatic syndromes-as the independent variables. Among 124,609 participants, N = 8,011 (6.4%) reported per-ceiving tinnitus constantly (CT: constant tinnitus) and N = 39,625 (31.8%) reported perceiving tinnitus constantly or occasionally (AT: any tinnitus). Our analysis identified 38 parameters that were associated with AT and 48 parameters that were associated with CT. Our study identified established disease as-sociates with tinnitus, including problems with hearing (OR 8.570 with CT), arrythmia (OR 1.742 with CT), transient ischemic attack (OR 1.284 with AT), diabetes mellitus (OR 1.014 with AT) and psychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder (OR 1.506 with CT). Factors related to lifestyle associated with tinnitus included waist-hip ratio (OR 1.061 with CT) and smoking (OR 1.028 with AT). Novel disease associates with CT were identified for inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (OR 1.297) and ulcerative colitis (OR 1.588), thyroid disease (as evidenced by the use of thyroid medication) (OR 1.298), and functional somatic syndromes, including chronic fatigue syndrome (OR 1.568). In addition to validating established disease associates in a general population cohort, this study identified novel associ-ations with tinnitus and several disease categories, including functional somatic syndromes, inflammatory diseases, and thyroid disease. Future work will be necessary to identify whether (common) mechanisms underly tinnitus and these associated disorders. Lifelines is an important new resource available for future studies investigating tinnitus in the general population. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Magnetic state in URu2Si2, UPd2Al3 and UNi2Al3 probed by point contacts

The antiferromagnetic (AFM) state has been investigated in the three heavy-fermion compounds URu2Si2, UPd2Al3, and UNi2Al3 by measuring dV/dI(V) curves of point contacts at different temperatures (1.5-20 K) and magnetic fields (0-28 T). The zero-bias maximum in dV/dI(V) for URu2Si2 points to a partially gapped Fermi-surface related to the itinerant nature of the AFM state contrary to UPd2Al3 where analogous features have not been found. The AFM state in UNi2Al3 has more similarities with URu2Si2. For URu2Si2, the same critical field of about 40 T along the easy c axis is found for all features in dV/dI(V) corresponding to the Neel temperature, the gap in the electronic density of states, and presumably the ordered moments.Comment: 10 pages incl. 5 figures, LaTex 2

Inhibition of the production of mediators of inflammation by corticosteroids is a glucocorticoid receptor-mediated process

In order to find an explanation for corticosteroid resistance we assessed whether inhibition by dexamethasone (DEX) of the stimulated production of TNF-∝, IL-6, PGE2 and LTB4 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNC) depends on binding to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), and whether it is determined by the number or the affinity of the GR of these cells. GR number and affinity of MNC were determined by means of a whole cell DEX binding assay. MNC were incubated with DEX and LPS or A23187 in the absence or presence of RU486, a potent steroid antagonist. DEX caused a concentration dependent inhibition of TNF-∝, IL-6 and PGE2 production but had no effect on LTB4 production. RU486 significantly blocked the effect of DEX, but no correlations were found between the inhibition of mediator release and the Kd or receptor number

Spatial Modulation Microscopy for Real-Time Imaging of Plasmonic Nanoparticles and Cells

Spatial modulation microscopy is a technique originally developed for quantitative spectroscopy of individual nano-objects. Here, a parallel implementation of the spatial modulation microscopy technique is demonstrated based on a line detector capable of demodulation at kHz frequencies. The capabilities of the imaging system are shown using an array of plasmonic nanoantennas and dendritic cells incubated with gold nanoparticles.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure