Numerical Solution of Hard-Core Mixtures

We study the equilibrium phase diagram of binary mixtures of hard spheres as well as of parallel hard cubes. A superior cluster algorithm allows us to establish and to access the demixed phase for both systems and to investigate the subtle interplay between short-range depletion and long-range demixing.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

A randomised controlled trial of the Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) for childhood Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): a protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An abundance of literature is dedicated to research for the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Most, is in the area of pharmacological therapies with less emphasis in psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions and even less in the area of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).</p> <p>The use of CAM has increased over the years, especially for developmental and behavioral disorders, such as ADHD. 60–65% of parents with children with ADHD have used CAM. Medical evidence supports a multidisciplinary approach (i.e. pharmacological and psychosocial) for the best clinical outcomes. The Neuro Emotional Technique (NET), a branch of Chiropractic, was designed to address the biopsychosocial aspects of acute and chronic conditions including non-musculoskeletal conditions. Anecdotally, it has been suggested that ADHD may be managed effectively by NET.</p> <p>Design/methods</p> <p>A placebo controlled, double blind randomised clinical trial was designed to assess the effectiveness of NET on a cohort of children with medically diagnosed ADHD.</p> <p>Children aged 5–12 years who met the inclusion criteria were randomised to one of three groups. The control group continued on their existing medical regimen and the intervention and placebo groups had the addition of the NET and sham NET protocols added to their regimen respectively. These two groups attended a clinical facility twice a week for the first month and then once a month for six months.</p> <p>The Conners' Parent and Teacher Rating Scales (CRS) were used at the start of the study to establish baseline data and then in one month and in seven months time, at the conclusion of the study. The primary outcome measures chosen were the Conners' ADHD Index and Conners' Global Index. The secondary outcome measures chosen were the DSM-IV: Inattentive, the DSM-IV:Hyperactive-Impulsive, and the DSM-IV:Total subscales from the Conners' Rating Scales, monitoring changes in inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity.</p> <p>Calculations for the sample size were set with a significance level of 0.05 and the power of 80%, yielding a sample size of 93.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The present study should provide information as to whether the addition of NET to an existing medical regimen can improve outcomes for children with ADHD.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registration Number: ANZCTRN 012606000332527</p

Assessment of the cervical range of motion over time, differences between results of the Flock of Birds and the EDI-320:A comparison between an electromagnetic tracking system and an electronic inclinometer

The objective of this study was to analyse cervical range of motion, assessed over time by means of a digital inclinometer (EDI-320) and a three-dimensional electromagnetic tracking device (Flock of Birds). The maximum active cervical range of motion was assessed with two measurement devices in three sessions over time, with 6-week intervals. In total, 26 women and 24 men (mean age: 44.4, SD: 9.9) without known pathology of the cervical spine participated. Four movements were measured axial rotation with the cervical spine in a flexed and in an extended position, flexion-extension, and lateral bending. The results showed that the factor time was significant for rotation in extension and rotation in flexion. The factor device was significant for all movements measured. and the interaction term between time and device was significant for all movements except rotation in extension. The Flock of Birds measured significantly higher ranges of motion on all motions except for lateral bending. A substantial variation in cervical range of motion was observed over time (ranging from -5.6 to 8.1) as well as between devices (ranging from - 13.1 to 29.9). Substantial and significant differences in cervical range of motion were found over time as well as differences between the Flock of Birds and the EDI-320. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Mortality, Reamputation, and Preoperative Comorbidities in Patients Undergoing Dysvascular Lower Limb Amputation

Background: Historically, mortality rates after major lower limb amputations (LLAs) have been very high. However, there are inconsistencies regarding the risk factors. The reamputation rate after major LLAs is largely unknown. The aim of this study is to report the 30-day and 1-year mortality and 1-year reamputation rates after major LLA and to identify potential risk factors.Methods: An observational cohort study in which all patients undergoing dysvascular major LLA in 2012-2013 in 12 hospitals in the northern region of the Netherlands is included.Results: Of total 382 patients, who underwent major LLA, 65% were male and the mean age (standard deviation [SD]) was 71.9 +/- 12.5 years. Peripheral arterial disease was observed in 88% and diabetes mellitus (DM), in 56% of patients. No revascularization or prior LLA on the amputated side was observed among 26%, whereas 56% had no minor or major LLA on either limb before the study period. The 30-day and 1-year mortality rates were 14% and 34%, respectively. Patients aged 75-84 and &gt;85 years had 3-4 times higher odds of dying within 1 year. Transfemoral amputations (odds ratio [OR], 2.2), history of heart failure (OR, 2.3), myocardial infarction (OR, 1.7), hemodialysis (OR, 5.7), immunosuppressive medication (OR, 2.8), and guillotine amputations (OR, 5.1) were independently associated with 1-year mortality. Twenty-six percent underwent ipsilateral reamputation within 1 year, for which no risk factors were identified.Conclusions: The mortality rate in the first year after major LLA is high, particularly among those undergoing transfemoral amputations, which is likely to be indicative of more severe vascular disease. Higher mortality among the most elderly patients, those with more severe cardiac disease and who underwent hemodialysis reflects the frailty of this population. Interestingly, DM, revascularization history, and prior minor or major LLA were not associated with mortality rates.</p

Comparison between patient-reported and physician-estimated pain and disability in hand and wrist disorders

Background Pain and disability are important components of the assessment of hand problems, but it is unknown how physician estimates compare to patient self-reports. Objective To analyse differences between patient-reported and physician-estimated pain and disability in patients with hand or wrist disorders and to analyse factors influencing these differences. Methods Observational study of patients with hand or wrist disorders seen during multidisciplinary outpatient consultations. Patients, rehabilitation medicine (RM) consultants, RM trainees and plastic surgeons completed visual analogue scales (VASs) to rate the level of self-reported (patients) or estimated (physicians) pain and disability. Multilevel analyses were performed to evaluate differences in VAS-pain and VAS-disability scores between patients and physicians and to evaluate the influences of diagnosis, physician experience and medical specialty. Results Complete data were obtained for 250 patients. Levels of pain and disability estimated by physicians were lower compared to patient self-reports. Ratings differed among medical specialties. Pain was underestimated to a greater extent by plastic surgeons compared to RM consultants. Disability was underestimated to a greater extent by RM consultants compared to plastic surgeons. Estimates of pain and disability did not differ between consultants and trainees in RM. Type of diagnosis did not influence the degree of underestimation of pain and disability. Conclusions Physicians underestimate pain and disability compared to self-reports in patients with hand or wrist disorders. Ratings differ among medical specialties: plastic surgeons underestimate pain more, while RM consultants underestimate disability more. Physician experience and diagnosis do not influence the degree of underestimation of pain and disability

Formal change impact analyses for emulated control software

Processor emulators are a software tool for allowing legacy computer programs to be executed on a modern processor. In the past emulators have been used in trivial applications such as maintenance of video games. Now, however, processor emulation is being applied to safety-critical control systems, including military avionics. These applications demand utmost guarantees of correctness, but no verification techniques exist for proving that an emulated system preserves the original system’s functional and timing properties. Here we show how this can be done by combining concepts previously used for reasoning about real-time program compilation, coupled with an understanding of the new and old software architectures. In particular, we show how both the old and new systems can be given a common semantics, thus allowing their behaviours to be compared directly

Prognostic factors associated with a restricted mouth opening (trismus) in patients with head and neck cancer:Systematic review

BACKGROUND: To prescribe early trismus therapy, prognostic factors influencing the restricted mouth opening should be identified first. Our aim is to present an overview of these factors in patients with head and neck cancer. METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane, EMBASE, and CINAHL were searched using terms related to head and neck cancer and mouth opening. Risk of bias was assessed using the "Quality in Prognosis Studies" tool. A best evidence synthesis was performed. RESULTS: Of the identified 1418 studies, 53 were included. Three studies contained a prognostic multivariate model for a restricted mouth opening. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with head and neck cancer will most likely develop a restricted mouth opening when they have a large tumor near the masticatory muscles that requires extensive cancer treatment. A restricted mouth opening most likely occurs within 6 months after cancer treatment. Further research is necessary on factors related to healing tendency or pain intensity

Feasibility and short-term effects of Activity Coach+:a physical activity intervention in hard-to-reach people with a physical disability

Purpose: Existing physical activity interventions do not reach a considerable proportion of physically disabled people. This study assessed feasibility and short-term effects of Activity Coach+, a community-based intervention especially targeting this hard-to-reach population. Methods: Feasibility was determined by reach, dropouts, and compliance with the protocol. Physical activity was measured with the Activ8 accelerometer and the adapted SQUASH questionnaire. Health outcomes were assessed by body composition, blood pressure, hand grip force, 10-metre walk test, 6-minute walk test, and the Berg Balance Scale. The RAND-36, Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale, Fatigue Severity Scale, and IMPACT-S were administered. Measurements were performed at baseline and after 2 and 4 months. Changes over time were analysed by Friedman tests. Results: Twenty-nine participants enrolled during the first 4 months, of whom two dropped out. Intervention components were employed in 86–100% of the participants. Physical activity did not change after the implementation of Activity Coach+. Body mass index (p = 0.006), diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.032), walking ability (p = 0.002), exercise capacity (p = 0.013), balance (p = 0.014), and vitality (p = 0.049) changed over time. Conclusions: Activity Coach + is feasible in a community setting. Indications for effectivity of Activity Coach + in hard-to-reach people with a physical disability were found.Implications for rehabilitation Activity Coach + was able to reach physically disabled people living in community, a population that is assumed hard-to-reach. Activity Coach + was feasible in a population of persons with a physical disability that was heterogeneous with respect to age and (severity of) disability. The current study provides the first indications for the beneficial health effects of Activity Coach + in hard-to-reach people with a physical disability

Proposal to Search for Heavy Neutral Leptons at the SPS

A new fixed-target experiment at the CERN SPS accelerator is proposed that will use decays of charm mesons to search for Heavy Neutral Leptons (HNLs), which are right-handed partners of the Standard Model neutrinos. The existence of such particles is strongly motivated by theory, as they can simultaneously explain the baryon asymmetry of the Universe, account for the pattern of neutrino masses and oscillations and provide a Dark Matter candidate. Cosmological constraints on the properties of HNLs now indicate that the majority of the interesting parameter space for such particles was beyond the reach of the previous searches at the PS191, BEBC, CHARM, CCFR and NuTeV experiments. For HNLs with mass below 2 GeV, the proposed experiment will improve on the sensitivity of previous searches by four orders of magnitude and will cover a major fraction of the parameter space favoured by theoretical models. The experiment requires a 400 GeV proton beam from the SPS with a total of 2x10^20 protons on target, achievable within five years of data taking. The proposed detector will reconstruct exclusive HNL decays and measure the HNL mass. The apparatus is based on existing technologies and consists of a target, a hadron absorber, a muon shield, a decay volume and two magnetic spectrometers, each of which has a 0.5 Tm magnet, a calorimeter and a muon detector. The detector has a total length of about 100 m with a 5 m diameter. The complete experimental set-up could be accommodated in CERN's North Area. The discovery of a HNL would have a great impact on our understanding of nature and open a new area for future research

Effect of voxel size in cone-beam computed tomography on surface area measurements of dehiscences and fenestrations in the lower anterior buccal region.

OBJECTIVES This study aims to assess whether different voxel sizes in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) affected surface area measurements of dehiscences and fenestrations in the mandibular anterior buccal region. MATERIALS AND METHODS Nineteen dry human mandibles were scanned with a surface scanner (SS). Wax was attached to the mandibles as a soft tissue equivalent. Three-dimensional digital models were generated with a CBCT unit, with voxel sizes of 0.200 mm (VS200), 0.400 mm (VS400), and 0.600 mm (VS600). The buccal surface areas of the six anterior teeth were measured (in mm2) to evaluate areas of dehiscences and fenestrations. Differences between the CBCT and SS measurements were determined in a linear mixed model analysis. RESULTS The mean surface area per tooth was 88.3 ± 24.0 mm2, with the SS, and 94.6 ± 26.5 (VS200), 95.1 ± 27.3 (VS400), and 96.0 ± 26.5 (VS600), with CBCT scans. Larger surface areas resulted in larger differences between CBCT and SS measurements (- 0.1 β, SE = 0.02, p < 0.001). Deviations from SS measurements were larger with VS600, compared to VS200 (1.3 β, SE = 0.05, P = 0.009). Fenestrations were undetectable with CBCT. CONCLUSIONS CBCT imaging magnified the surface area of dehiscences in the anterior buccal region of the mandible by 7 to 9%. The larger the voxel size, the larger the deviation from SS measurements. Fenestrations were not detectable with CBCT. CLINICAL RELEVANCE CBCT is an acceptable tool for measuring dehiscences but not fenestrations. However, CBCT overestimates the size of dehiscences, and the degree of overestimation depends on the actual dehiscence size and CBCT voxel size employed