4,340 research outputs found
Mapping the wavefunction of transition metal acceptor states in the GaAs surface
We utilize a single atom substitution technique with spectroscopic imaging in
a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to visualize the anisotropic spatial
structure of magnetic and non-magnetic transition metal acceptor states in the
GaAs (110) surface. The character of the defect states play a critical role in
the properties of the semiconductor, the localization of the states influencing
such things as the onset of the metal-insulator transition, and in dilute
magnetic semiconductors the mechanism and strength of magnetic interactions
that lead to the emergence of ferromagnetism. We study these states in the GaAs
surface finding remarkable similarities between the shape of the acceptor state
wavefunction for Mn, Fe, Co and Zn dopants, which is determined by the GaAs
host and is generally reproduced by tight binding calculations of Mn in bulk
GaAs [Tang, J.M. & Flatte, M.E., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 047201 (2004)]. The
similarities originate from the antibonding nature of the acceptor states that
arise from the hybridization of the impurity d-levels with the host. A second
deeper in-gap state is also observed for Fe and Co that can be explained by the
symmetry breaking of the surface.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figure
Corn Row Spacing, Plant Density, and Maturity Effects
Historically, corn was grown in rows wide enough to allow draft animals to fit between the rows. With the advent of powered equipment, improved hybrids, fertilizers, and pesticides, corn rows have become narrower. Research in the 1960s showed a 5% yield advantage by growing corn in 30-inch rows compared with 38-inch rows. More recent research suggests that the yield benefit has decreased to a 3% advantage for 30-inch rows. By the early 1990s, there was interest in growing corn in rows narrower than 30 inches. Currently, about 1% of the total corn acreage in Iowa is planted in rows narrower than 30 inches. Research in Minnesota and Michigan showed a 7–10% advantage for corn grown in 15- or 20-inch rows compared with 30-inch row spacings. Tests in the central Corn Belt have indicated a smaller response (up to 5%). The Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm has tested corn row spacings for the past 8 years
Resistance training for rehabilitation after burn injury: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis
Background/aim: Resistance training is beneficial for rehabilitation in many clinical conditions, though this has not been systematically reviewed in burns. The objective was to determine the effectiveness of resistance training on muscle strength, lean mass, function, quality of life and pain, in children and adults after burn injury.
Methods: Medline & EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL and CENTRAL were searched from inception to October 2016. Studies were identified that implemented resistance training in rehabilitation. Data were combined and included in meta-analyses for muscle strength and lean mass. Otherwise, narrative analysis was completed. The quality of evidence for each outcome was summarised and rated using the GRADE framework.
Results: Eleven studies matched our inclusion criteria. Primary analysis did not demonstrate significant improvements for increasing muscle strength (SMD 0.74, 95% CI _0.02 to 1.50, p=0.06). Sensitivity analysis to correct an apparent anomaly in published data suggested a positive effect (SMD 0.37, 95% CI 0.08–0.65, p=0.01). Psychological quality of life demonstrated benefit from training (MD=25.3, 95% CI 3.94–49.7). All studies were rated as having high risk of bias. The quality of the evidence was rated as low or very low.
Conclusion: Further research with robust methodology is recommended to assess the potential benefit suggested in this review
Modeling Dust and Starlight in Galaxies Observed by Spitzer and Herschel: NGC 628 and NGC 6946
We characterize the dust in NGC628 and NGC6946, two nearby spiral galaxies in
the KINGFISH sample. With data from 3.6um to 500um, dust models are strongly
constrained. Using the Draine & Li (2007) dust model, (amorphous silicate and
carbonaceous grains), for each pixel in each galaxy we estimate (1) dust mass
surface density, (2) dust mass fraction contributed by polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAH)s, (3) distribution of starlight intensities heating the
dust, (4) total infrared (IR) luminosity emitted by the dust, and (5) IR
luminosity originating in regions with high starlight intensity. We obtain maps
for the dust properties, which trace the spiral structure of the galaxies. The
dust models successfully reproduce the observed global and resolved spectral
energy distributions (SEDs). The overall dust/H mass ratio is estimated to be
0.0082+/-0.0017 for NGC628, and 0.0063+/-0.0009 for NGC6946, consistent with
what is expected for galaxies of near-solar metallicity. Our derived dust
masses are larger (by up to a factor 3) than estimates based on
single-temperature modified blackbody fits. We show that the SED fits are
significantly improved if the starlight intensity distribution includes a
(single intensity) "delta function" component. We find no evidence for
significant masses of cold dust T<12K. Discrepancies between PACS and MIPS
photometry in both low and high surface brightness areas result in large
uncertainties when the modeling is done at PACS resolutions, in which case
SPIRE, MIPS70 and MIPS160 data cannot be used. We recommend against attempting
to model dust at the angular resolution of PACS.Comment: To be published in Apj, September 2012. See the full version at
http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~ganiano/Papers
The Dipole Anisotropy of the First All-Sky X-ray Cluster Sample
We combine the recently published CIZA galaxy cluster catalogue with the
XBACs cluster sample to produce the first all-sky catalogue of X-ray clusters
in order to examine the origins of the Local Group's peculiar velocity without
the use of reconstruction methods to fill the traditional Zone of Avoidance.
The advantages of this approach are (i) X-ray emitting clusters tend to trace
the deepest potential wells and therefore have the greatest effect on the
dynamics of the Local Group and (ii) our all-sky sample provides data for
nearly a quarter of the sky that is largely incomplete in optical cluster
catalogues. We find that the direction of the Local Group's peculiar velocity
is well aligned with the CMB as early as the Great Attractor region 40 h^-1 Mpc
away, but that the amplitude of its dipole motion is largely set between 140
and 160 h^-1 Mpc. Unlike previous studies using galaxy samples, we find that
without Virgo included, roughly ~70% of our dipole signal comes from mass
concentrations at large distances (>60 h^-1 Mpc) and does not flatten,
indicating isotropy in the cluster distribution, until at least 160 h^-1 Mpc.
We also present a detailed discussion of our dipole profile, linking observed
features to the structures and superclusters that produce them. We find that
most of the dipole signal can be attributed to the Shapley supercluster
centered at about 150 h^-1 Mpc and a handful of very massive individual
clusters, some of which are newly discovered and lie well in the Zone of
Avoidance.Comment: 15 Pages, 9 Figures. Accepted by Ap
Progress in Lunar Laser Ranging Tests of Relativistic Gravity
Analyses of laser ranges to the Moon provide increasingly stringent limits on
any violation of the Equivalence Principle (EP); they also enable several very
accurate tests of relativistic gravity. We report the results of our recent
analysis of Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) data giving an EP test of \Delta
(M_G/M_I)_{EP} =(-1.0 +/- 1.4) x 10^{-13}. This result yields a Strong
Equivalence Principle (SEP) test of \Delta (M_G/M_I)_{SEP} =(-2.0 +/- 2.0) x
10^{-13}. Also, the corresponding SEP violation parameter \eta is (4.4 +/- 4.5)
x 10^{-4}, where \eta=4\beta-\gamma-3 and both \beta and \gamma are
parametrized post-Newtonian (PPN) parameters. Using the recent Cassini result
for the parameter \gamma, PPN parameter \beta is determined to be \beta-1=(1.2
+/- 1.1) x 10^{-4}. The geodetic precession test, expressed as a relative
deviation from general relativity, is K_{gp}=-0.0019 +/- 0.0064. The search for
a time variation in the gravitational constant results in \dot G/G=(4 +/- 9) x
10^{-13} yr^{-1}, consequently there is no evidence for local (~1AU) scale
expansion of the solar system.Comment: 4 pages, revtex4, minor changes made for publicatio
Seeking the Local Convergence Depth. V. Tully-Fisher Peculiar Velocities for 52 Abell Clusters
We have obtained I band Tully-Fisher (TF) measurements for 522 late-type
galaxies in the fields of 52 rich Abell clusters distributed throughout the sky
between 50 and 200\h Mpc. Here we estimate corrections to the data for various
forms of observational bias, most notably Malmquist and cluster population
incompleteness bias. The bias-corrected data are applied to the construction of
an I band TF template, resulting in a relation with a dispersion of 0.38
magnitudes and a kinematical zero-point accurate to 0.02 magnitudes. This
represents the most accurate TF template relation currently available.
Individual cluster TF relations are referred to the average template relation
to compute cluster peculiar motions. The line-of-sight dispersion in the
peculiar motions is 341+/-93 km/s, in general agreement with that found for the
cluster sample of Giovanelli and coworkers.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures, uses AAS LaTeX; to appear in the Astronomical
Journa
Prevalence of frailty and reliability of established frailty instruments in adult elective colorectal surgical patients: a prospective cohort study
Purpose: Large population studies now demonstrate that frailty is prevalent in all adult age groups. Limited data exist on the association between frailty and surgical outcome in younger patients. The aim of the study was to explore the agreement between frailty identification tools and collect pilot data on their predictive value for frailty-associated outcomes in an adult surgical population. Study design: Prospective cohort study. Results: Frailty scores were recorded in 200 patients (91 men), mean (range) age 57 (18–92) years. The prevalence of prefrailty was 52%–67% and that of frailty 2%–32% depending on the instrument used. Agreement between the instruments was poor, kappa 0.08–0.17 in pairwise comparisons. Outcome data were available on 160 patients. Only the frailty phenotype was significantly associated with adverse outcomes, RR 6.1 (1.5–24.5) for postoperative complications. The three frailty scoring instruments studies had good sensitivity (Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS)—90%, Accumulation Deficit (AD)—96%, Frailty Phenotype (FP)—97%) but poor specificity (CFS—12%, AD—13%, FP—18%) for the prediction of postoperative complications. All three instruments were poorly predictive of adverse outcomes with likelihood ratios of CFS—1.02, AD—1.09 and FP—1.17. Conclusions: This study showed a significant prevalence of prefrailty and frailty in adult colorectal surgical patients of all ages. There was poor agreement between three established frailty scoring instruments. Our data do not support the use of current frailty scoring instruments in all adult colorectal surgical patients. However, the significant prevalence of prefrailty and frailty across all age groups of adult surgical patient justifies further research to refine frailty scoring in surgical patients
Squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal cavity:A descriptive analysis of cases from the Head and Neck 5000 study
OBJECTIVES: This paper aims to provide contemporary epidemiological data on squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the nasal cavity, which represents a rare type of head and neck cancer.DESIGN, SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: A descriptive analysis of people with nasal cavity SCC treated with curative intent from the Head and Neck 5000 study; a multicentre clinical cohort study of people from the UK with head and neck cancer. People with tumours of the nasopharynx, paranasal sinuses and other sub-sites of the head and neck were excluded.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Demographic data and treatment details are presented for all participants. The main outcomes were overall survival and survival according to categories of characteristics (e.g. smoker vs non-smoker); these were explored using Kaplan-Meier plots.RESULTS: Thirty people with nasal cavity SCC were included in the study, of which most were male (67%) and current or ex-smokers (70%). The majority (70%) presented with early stage (T1/2, N0) tumours. Cervical lymph node metastases at presentation were rare, occurring in only one person. Nine people died during the follow up period (30%). Worse survival outcomes were seen in people with moderate or severe co-morbidities.CONCLUSIONS: This paper provides epidemiological data on nasal cavity SCC in the UK. Patterns of disease and survival outcomes are described, identifying high-risk groups. Further studies should explore whether primary treatment modality alters survival. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.</p
- …