108 research outputs found
Resonantly enhanced filamentation in gases
In this Letter, a low-loss Kerr-driven optical filament in Krypton gas is
experimentally reported in the ultraviolet. The experimental findings are
supported by ab initio quantum calculations describing the atomic optical
response. Higher-order Kerr effect induced by three-photon resonant transitions
is identified as the underlying physical mechanism responsible for the
intensity stabilization during the filamentation process, while ionization
plays only a minor role. This result goes beyond the commonly-admitted paradigm
of filamentation, in which ionization is a necessary condition of the filament
intensity clamping. At resonance, it is also experimentally demonstrated that
the filament length is greatly extended because of a strong decrease of the
optical losses
Fractal time series analysis of postural stability in elderly and control subjects
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The study of balance using stabilogram analysis is of particular interest in the study of falls. Although simple statistical parameters derived from the stabilogram have been shown to predict risk of falls, such measures offer little insight into the underlying control mechanisms responsible for degradation in balance. In contrast, fractal and non-linear time-series analysis of stabilograms, such as estimations of the Hurst exponent (H), may provide information related to the underlying motor control strategies governing postural stability. In order to be adapted for a home-based follow-up of balance, such methods need to be robust, regardless of the experimental protocol, while producing time-series that are as short as possible. The present study compares two methods of calculating H: Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA) and Stabilogram Diffusion Analysis (SDA) for elderly and control subjects, as well as evaluating the effect of recording duration.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Centre of pressure signals were obtained from 90 young adult subjects and 10 elderly subjects. Data were sampled at 100 Hz for 30 s, including stepping onto and off the force plate. Estimations of H were made using sliding windows of 10, 5, and 2.5 s durations, with windows slid forward in 1-s increments. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to test for the effect of time, age and estimation method on the Hurst exponent, while the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used as a measure of reliability.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both SDA and DFA methods were able to identify differences in postural stability between control and elderly subjects for time series as short as 5 s, with ICC values as high as 0.75 for DFA.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Both methods would be well-suited to non-invasive longitudinal assessment of balance. In addition, reliable estimations of H were obtained from time series as short as 5 s.</p
Pressure-dependent electron attachment and breakdown strengths of unitary gases, and synergism of binary gas mixtures: a relationship
The relationship between the pressure-dependent electron attachment rate constants (k/sub a/) which have been observed in 1-C/sub 3/F/sub 6/ and in several perfluoroalkanes, and the uniform field breakdown strengths (E/N)/sub lim/ in these gases is discussed. Measurements of the pressure dependence of k/sub a/ of OCS in a buffer gas of Ar are presented and the possible pressure dependence of (E/N)/sub lim/ in OCS is discussed. Uniform field breakdown measurements have been performed in C/sub 3/F/sub 8/, n-C/sub 4/F/sub 10/, and SO/sub 2/ over a range of gas pressures (3 less than or equal to P/sub T/ less than or equal to 290 kPa) and are reported. All three molecules have been found to possess pressure-dependent (E/N)/sub lim/ values. The various types of synergistic behavior which have been observed in binary gas dielectric mixtures are summarized and discussed. A new mechanism is outlined which can explain the synergism observed in several gas mixtures where the (E/N)/sub lim/ values of the mixutres are greater than those of the individual gas constituents. Model calculations are presented which support this mechanism, and can be used to explain the pressure-dependent synergistic effects which have been reported in 1-C/sub 3/F/sub 6//SF/sub 6/ gas mixture
Probing photo-ionization: simulations of positive streamers in varying N2:O2 mixtures
Photo-ionization is the accepted mechanism for the propagation of positive
streamers in air though the parameters are not very well known; the efficiency
of this mechanism largely depends on the presence of both nitrogen and oxygen.
But experiments show that streamer propagation is amazingly robust against
changes of the gas composition; even for pure nitrogen with impurity levels
below 1 ppm streamers propagate essentially with the same velocity as in air,
but their minimal diameter is smaller, and they branch more frequently.
Additionally, they move more in a zigzag fashion and sometimes exhibit a
feathery structure. In our simulations, we test the relative importance of
photo-ionization and of the background ionization from pulsed repetitive
discharges, in air as well as in nitrogen with 1 ppm O2 . We also test
reasonable parameter changes of the photo-ionization model. We find that photo-
ionization dominates streamer propagation in air for repetition frequencies of
at least 1 kHz, while in nitrogen with 1 ppm O2 the effect of the repetition
frequency has to be included above 1 Hz. Finally, we explain the feather-like
structures around streamer channels that are observed in experiments in
nitrogen with high purity, but not in air.Comment: 12 figure
Percutaneous Preoperative Biliary Drainage for Resectable Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma: No Association with Survival and No Increase in Seeding Metastases
Background: Endoscopic biliary drainage (EBD) and percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) are both used to resolve jaundice before surgery for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PHC). PTBD has been associated with seeding metastases. The aim of this study was to compare overall survival (OS) and the incidence of initial seeding metastases that potentially influence survival in patients with preoperative PTBD versus EBD. Methods: Between 1991 and 2012, a total of 278 patients underwent preoperative biliary drainage and resection of PHC at 2 institutions in the Netherlands and the United States. Of these, 33 patients were excluded for postoperative mortality. Among the 245 included patients, 88 patients who underwent preoperative PTBD (with or without previous EBD) were compared to 157 patients who underwent EBD only. Survival analysis was done with Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression with propensity score adjustment. Results: Unadjusted median OS was comparable between the PTBD group (35 months) and EBD-only group (41 months; P = 0.26). After adjustment for propensity score, OS between the PTBD group and EBD-only group was similar (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95 % confidence interval, 0.74–1.49; P = 0.80). Seeding metastases in the laparotomy scar occurred as initial recurrence in 7 patients, including 3 patients (3.4 %) in the PTBD group and 4 patients (2.7 %) in the EBD-only group (P = 0.71). No patient had an initial recurrence in percutaneous catheter tracts. Conclusions: The present study found no effect of PTBD on survival compared to patients with EBD and no increase in seeding metastases that developed as initial recurrence. These data suggest that PTBD can safely be used in preoperative management of PHC
Investigation of Linum flavum (L.) Hairy Root Cultures for the Production of Anticancer Aryltetralin Lignans.
Collaboration with:
Université d’Orléans, 28000 Chartres, France,
Université de Picardie Jules Verne, F-80037 Amiens, France
De Montfort University
Open access articleLinum flavum hairy root lines were established from hypocotyl pieces using Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains LBA 9402 and ATCC 15834. Both strains were effective for transformation but induction of hairy root phenotype was more stable with strain ATCC 15834. Whereas similar accumulation patterns were observed in podophyllotoxin-related compounds (6-methoxy-podophyllotoxin, podophyllotoxin and deoxypodophyllotoxin), significant quantitative variations were noted between root lines. The influence of culture medium and various treatments (hormone, elicitation and precursor feeding) were evaluated. The highest accumulation was obtained in Gamborg B5 medium. Treatment with methyl jasmonate, and feeding using ferulic acid increased the accumulation of aryltetralin lignans. These results point to the use of hairy root culture lines of Linum flavum as potential sources for these valuable metabolites as an alternative, or as a complement to Podophyllum collected from wild stands
The PARAChute project: remote monitoring of posture and gait for fall prevention
Falls in the elderly are a major public health problem due to both their frequency and their medical and social consequences. In France alone, more than two million people aged over 65 years old fall each year, leading to more than 9 000 deaths, in particular in those over 75 years old (more than 8 000 deaths). This paper describes the PARAChute project, which aims to develop a methodology that will enable the detection of an increased risk of falling in community-dwelling elderly. The methods used for a remote noninvasive assessment for static and dynamic balance assessments and gait analysis are described. The final result of the project has been the development of an algorithm for movement detection during gait and a balance signature extracted from a force plate. A multicentre longitudinal evaluation of balance has commenced in order to validate the methodologies and technologies developed in the project
A Measurement of the CMB Temperature Power Spectrum and Constraints on Cosmology from the SPT-3G 2018 TT/TE/EE Data Set
We present a sample-variance-limited measurement of the temperature power
spectrum () of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) using observations of
a field made by SPT-3G in 2018. We report
multifrequency power spectrum measurements at 95, 150, and 220GHz covering the
angular multipole range . We combine this
measurement with the published polarization power spectrum measurements from
the 2018 observing season and update their associated covariance matrix to
complete the SPT-3G 2018 data set. This is the first analysis to
present cosmological constraints from SPT , , and power spectrum
measurements jointly. We blind the cosmological results and subject the data
set to a series of consistency tests at the power spectrum and parameter level.
We find excellent agreement between frequencies and spectrum types and our
results are robust to the modeling of astrophysical foregrounds. We report
results for CDM and a series of extensions, drawing on the following
parameters: the amplitude of the gravitational lensing effect on primary power
spectra , the effective number of neutrino species
, the primordial helium abundance , and the
baryon clumping factor due to primordial magnetic fields . We find that the
SPT-3G 2018 data are well fit by CDM with a
probability-to-exceed of . For CDM, we constrain the expansion
rate today to and the
combined structure growth parameter to . The SPT-based
results are effectively independent of Planck, and the cosmological parameter
constraints from either data set are within of each other.
(abridged)Comment: 35 Pages, 17 Figures, 11 Table
A Measurement of Gravitational Lensing of the Cosmic Microwave Background Using SPT-3G 2018 Data
We present a measurement of gravitational lensing over 1500 deg of the
Southern sky using SPT-3G temperature data at 95 and 150 GHz taken in 2018. The
lensing amplitude relative to a fiducial Planck 2018 CDM cosmology is
found to be , excluding instrumental and astrophysical
systematic uncertainties. We conduct extensive systematic and null tests to
check the robustness of the lensing measurements, and report a minimum-variance
combined lensing power spectrum over angular multipoles of , which
we use to constrain cosmological models. When analyzed alone and jointly with
primary cosmic microwave background (CMB) spectra within the CDM
model, our lensing amplitude measurements are consistent with measurements from
SPT-SZ, SPTpol, ACT, and Planck. Incorporating loose priors on the baryon
density and other parameters including uncertainties on a foreground bias
template, we obtain a constraint on using the SPT-3G 2018 lensing data alone, where
is a common measure of the amplitude of structure today and
is the matter density parameter. Combining SPT-3G 2018 lensing
measurements with baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) data, we derive parameter
constraints of , , and Hubble constant
km s Mpc. Using CMB anisotropy and lensing measurements from
SPT-3G only, we provide independent constraints on the spatial curvature of
(95% C.L.) and the dark energy density
of (68% C.L.). When combining SPT-3G
lensing data with SPT-3G CMB anisotropy and BAO data, we find an upper limit on
the sum of the neutrino masses of eV (95% C.L.)
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