2,045 research outputs found
Temperature-stable Gunn-diode oscillator
Oscillator consisting of Gunn diode embedded in coaxial circuit has excellent temperature stability and low fabrication costs as compared with automatic-frequency-control crystal oscillators
Field-dependent dynamics of the Anderson impurity model
Single-particle dynamics of the Anderson impurity model in the presence of a
magnetic field are considered, using a recently developed local moment
approach that encompasses all energy scales, field and interaction strengths.
For strong coupling in particular, the Kondo scaling regime is recovered. Here
the frequency () and field ()
dependence of the resultant universal scaling spectrum is obtained in large
part analytically, and the field-induced destruction of the Kondo resonance
investigated. The scaling spectrum is found to exhibit the slow logarithmic
tails recently shown to dominate the zero-field scaling spectrum. At the
opposite extreme of the Fermi level, it gives asymptotically exact agreement
with results for statics known from the Bethe ansatz. Good agreement is also
found with the frequency and field-dependence of recent numerical
renormalization group calculations. Differential conductance experiments on
quantum dots in the presence of a magnetic field are likewise considered; and
appear to be well accounted for by the theory. Some new exact results for the
problem are also established
Feasibility and Acceptability of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Compared with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Treatment as Usual in People with Depression and Cardiovascular Disorders: A three-arm Randomised Controlled Trial
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via the DOI in this record.Depression co-occurs in 20 % of people with cardiovascular disorders, can persist for years, and
predicts worse physical health outcomes. While psychosocial treatments have been shown to treat acute
depression effectively in those with comorbid cardiovascular disorders, to date, there has been no evaluation of
approaches aiming to prevent relapse and treat residual depression symptoms in this group. Consequently, the
current study aimed to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a randomised controlled trial design
evaluating an adapted version of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) designed specifically for people
with co-morbid depression and cardiovascular disorders. A 3-arm feasibility randomised controlled trial was
conducted, comparing MBCT adapted for people with cardiovascular disorders plus treatment as usual (TAU),
mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) plus TAU, and TAU alone. Participants completed a set of selfreport
measures of depression severity, anxiety, quality of life, illness perceptions, mindfulness, self-compassion
and affect and had their blood pressure taken immediately before, after, and three months following the
intervention. Those in the adapted-MBCT arm additionally underwent a qualitative interview to gather their
views about the adapted intervention. 3,400 potentially eligible participants were approached when attending an
outpatient appointment at a cardiology clinic or via a GP letter following a case note search. 242 (7.1 %) were
interested in taking part, 59 (1.7 %) were screened as being suitable, and 33 (<1 %) were eventually randomised
to the three groups. Of 11 participants randomised to adapted MBCT, seven completed the full course, levels of
home mindfulness practice were high, and positive qualitative feedback about the intervention was given.
Twenty-nine out of 33 randomised participants completed all the assessment measures at all three-time points.
The means PHQ-9 scores for the MBCT-HeLM group were lower at post-intervention and at the three-month
follow-up compared to the MBSR and TAU groups. The sample was heterogeneous in terms of whether they
reported current depression or had a history of depression and the time since the onset of cardiovascular
disorders (one to 25 years). The adapted MBCT intervention was feasible and acceptable to participants,
however, certain aspects of the trial design were not. In particular, low recruitment rates were achieved and
there was a high withdrawal rate between screening and randomisation. Moreover, the heterogeneity in the
sample was high, meaning the adapted intervention was unlikely to be well tailored to all the participants needs.
This suggests that if the decision is made to move to a definitive trial, study recruitment procedures will need to
be revised to recruit a target sample that optimally matches the adapted intervention.This research was, in part, supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West Peninsula. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. Also, the research was carried out as part of a PhD funded by King Saud University, Saudi Arabian Ministry of Higher Education
Cooling Flows and Metallicity Gradients in Clusters of Galaxies
The X-ray emission by hot gas at the centers of clusters of galaxies is
commonly modeled assuming the existence of steady-state, inhomogeneous cooling
flows. We derive the metallicity profiles of the intracluster medium expected
from such models. The inflowing gas is chemically enriched by type Ia
supernovae and stellar mass loss in the outer parts of the central galaxy,
which may give rise to a substantial metallicity gradient. The amplitude of the
expected metallicity enhancement towards the cluster center is proportional to
the ratio of the central galaxy luminosity to the mass inflow rate. The
metallicity of the hotter phases is expected to be higher than that of the
colder, denser phases. The metallicity profile expected for the Centaurus
cluster is in good agreement with the metallicity gradient recently inferred
from ASCA measurements (Fukazawa et al. 1994). However, current data do not
rule out alternative models where cooling is balanced by some heat source. The
metallicity gradient does not need to be present in all clusters, depending on
the recent merging history of the gas around the central cluster galaxy, and on
the ratio of the stellar mass in the central galaxy to the gas mass in the
cooling flow.Comment: uuencoded postscript, 8 pages of text + 2 figures, accepted by The
Astrophysical Journal (Letters
Recommended from our members
Mental health in UK Biobank - development, implementation and results from an online questionnaire completed by 157 366 participants: a reanalysis
Background
UK Biobank is a well-characterised cohort of over 500 000 participants including genetics, environmental data and imaging. An online mental health questionnaire was designed for UK Biobank participants to expand its potential.
Aims
Describe the development, implementation and results of this questionnaire.
Method
An expert working group designed the questionnaire, using established measures where possible, and consulting a patient group. Operational criteria were agreed for defining likely disorder and risk states, including lifetime depression, mania/hypomania, generalised anxiety disorder, unusual experiences and self-harm, and current post-traumatic stress and hazardous/harmful alcohol use.
Results
A total of 157 366 completed online questionnaires were available by August 2017. Participants were aged 45–82 (53% were ≥65 years) and 57% women. Comparison of self-reported diagnosed mental disorder with a contemporary study shows a similar prevalence, despite respondents being of higher average socioeconomic status. Lifetime depression was a common finding, with 24% (37 434) of participants meeting criteria and current hazardous/harmful alcohol use criteria were met by 21% (32 602), whereas other criteria were met by less than 8% of the participants. There was extensive comorbidity among the syndromes. Mental disorders were associated with a high neuroticism score, adverse life events and long-term illness; addiction and bipolar affective disorder in particular were associated with measures of deprivation.
Conclusions
The UK Biobank questionnaire represents a very large mental health survey in itself, and the results presented here show high face validity, although caution is needed because of selection bias. Built into UK Biobank, these data intersect with other health data to offer unparalleled potential for crosscutting biomedical research involving mental health
Age as the Second Parameter in NGC 288 / NGC 362? I. Turnoff Ages: a Purely Differential Comparison
We present deep V,I photometry of the globular clusters NGC 288, NGC 362 and
NGC 1851 obtained during a single observational run under strictly homogeneous
conditions. We use the bimodal horizontal branch (HB) of NGC 1851 as a
``bridge'' to obtain the optimum relative match between the HBs of NGC 288 and
NGC 362. In this way we can effectively remove the uncertainties associated
with distance, reddening and inhomogeneities in the absolute calibration, thus
obtaining a very robust, purely differential estimate of the age difference
between these two clusters. According to the bridge test, NGC 288 is found to
be older than NGC 362 by 2 +- 1 Gyr. This result is fully confirmed also by all
classical differential age diagnostics, either based on the luminosity or color
of the main sequence turnoff point.Comment: Accepted by The Astronomical Journal - 30 pages, 6 tables, 14
figures, LaTeX, the emulateapj5.sty macro is used. Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are
provided in reduced resolution. Full resolution versions available upon
request to the first author ([email protected]). Minor changes due to
modifications in the companion paper (Pap II
Spectral function of the Kondo model in high magnetic fields
Using a recently developed perturbative renormalization group (RG) scheme, we
calculate analytically the spectral function of a Kondo impurity for either
large frequencies w or large magnetic field B and arbitrary frequencies. For
large w >> max[B,T_K] the spectral function decays as 1/ln^2[ w/T_K ] with
prefactors which depend on the magnetization. The spin-resolved spectral
function displays a pronounced peak at w=B with a characteristic asymmetry. In
a detailed comparison with results from numerical renormalization group (NRG)
and bare perturbation theory in next-to-leading logarithmic order, we show that
our perturbative RG scheme is controlled by the small parameter 1/ln[
max(w,B)/T_K]. Furthermore, we assess the ability of the NRG to resolve
structures at finite frequencies.Comment: 8 pages, version published in PRB, minor change
The articulation of enkinaesthetic entanglement
In this article I present an argument for the necessary co-articulation of meaning within our felt enkinaesthetic engagement with our world. The argument will be developed through a series of stages, the first of which will be an elaboration of the notion of articulation of and through the body. This will be followed by an examination of enkinaesthetic experiential entanglement and the role it plays in rendering our world meaningful and our actions values-realising. At this stage I will begin to extend Husserl’s notion of intentional transgression to the enkinaesthetic sphere of lived experience, and in support of this claim I will examine the theoretical and practical work of osteopathic manual listening [Gens & Roche 2014] and the ‘felt sense’ in focusing [Gendlin] which makes possible a shift from a somatic articulation to a semantic, and potentially conceptual, one. Throughout, my position will be compatible with Merleau-Ponty’s claim that “Whenever I try to understand myself, the whole fabric of the perceptible world comes too, and with it comes the others who are caught in it.” [Merleau-Ponty 1964a, p.15]
HST Snaphot Study of Variable Stars in Globular Clusters: Inner Region of NGC 6441
[Abridged] We present the results of a Hubble Space Telescope snapshot
program to survey the inner region of the globular cluster NGC 6441 for its
variable stars. A total of 57 variable stars was found including 38 RR Lyrae
stars, 6 Population II Cepheids, and 12 long period variables. Of the RR Lyrae
stars observed in this survey, 26 are pulsating in the fundamental mode with a
mean period of 0.753d and 12 are first-overtone mode pulsators with a mean
period of 0.365d. These values match up very well with those found in
ground-based surveys. Combining all the available data for NGC 6441, we find
mean periods of 0.759d and 0.375d for the RRab and RRc stars, respectively. We
also find that the RR Lyrae in this survey are located in the same regions of a
period-amplitude diagram as those found in ground-based surveys. Although NGC
6441 is a metal-rich globular cluster, its RR Lyrae more closely resemble those
in Oosterhoff type II globular clusters. However, even compared to typical
Oosterhoff type II systems, the mean period of its RRab stars is unusually
long. We also derived I-band period-luminosity relations for the RR Lyrae
stars. Of the six Population II Cepheids, five are of W Virginis type and one
is a BL Herculis variable stars. This makes NGC 6441, along with NGC 6388, the
most metal-rich globular cluster known to contain these types of variable
stars. Another variable, V118, may also be a Population II Cepheid given its
long period and its separation in magnitude from the RR Lyrae stars. We argue
that there does not appear to be a change in the period-luminosity relation
slope between the BL Herculis and W Virginis stars, but that a change of slope
does occur when the RV Tauri stars are added to the period-luminosity relation.Comment: 28 pages, including 9 figures and 8 tables, emulateapj5/apjfonts
style. Accepted by the Astronomical Journal. Approximate publication date
September 2003. We recommend the interested reader to download the preprint
with full-resolution figures, which can be found at
http://www.astro.puc.cl/~mcatelan/Pritzl.zi
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