Pojačanje zapinjanja magnetskih vrtloga u neutronima ozračenom supravodiču MgB2

m − H loops for virgin and neutron irradiated bulk and powder samples of MgB2 were measured in the temperature range 5 − 30 K in magnetic field B ≤ 1 T. The irradiation at thermal neutron fluences 9 · 1013 and 4.5 · 1014 cm−2 caused very small enhancement of m − H loops at lower temperatures (T < 20 K), whereas the effect at high temperatures was unclear due to the difficulty in achieving exactly the same measurement temperature prior and after irradiation. However, the irradiation at 4.5 · 1015 cm−2 produced clear enhancement of m − H loops (hence Jc) at all investigated temperatures, which provides the evidence for the enhancement of flux pinning in MgB2 due to ion tracks resulting from n+10B reaction. The potential of this technique for the enhancement of flux pinning in high temperature superconductors is briefly discussed.Ozračivanje termičkim neutronima do 9 · 1013 i 4.5 · 1014 n/cm2 uzrokovalo je vrlo malo proširenje m−H krivulja na nižim temperaturama (T < 20 K), dok je učinak na višim temperaturama nejasan zbog poteškoće da se postigne točna jednakost mjerne temperature prije i poslije ozračivanja. Ozračivanje na 4.5 · 1015 n/cm2 uzrokovalo je jasno proširenje m − H krivulja na svim temperaturama, što ukazuje da ionski tragovi nastali n+10B reakcijom pojačavaju zapinjanje linija magnetskog toka u MgB2. Kratko se razmatra prikladnost tog postupka za pojačanje zapinjanja linija toka u visokotemperaturnim supravodičima

Pojačanje zapinjanja magnetskih vrtloga u neutronima ozračenom supravodiču MgB2

m − H loops for virgin and neutron irradiated bulk and powder samples of MgB2 were measured in the temperature range 5 − 30 K in magnetic field B ≤ 1 T. The irradiation at thermal neutron fluences 9 · 1013 and 4.5 · 1014 cm−2 caused very small enhancement of m − H loops at lower temperatures (T < 20 K), whereas the effect at high temperatures was unclear due to the difficulty in achieving exactly the same measurement temperature prior and after irradiation. However, the irradiation at 4.5 · 1015 cm−2 produced clear enhancement of m − H loops (hence Jc) at all investigated temperatures, which provides the evidence for the enhancement of flux pinning in MgB2 due to ion tracks resulting from n+10B reaction. The potential of this technique for the enhancement of flux pinning in high temperature superconductors is briefly discussed.Ozračivanje termičkim neutronima do 9 · 1013 i 4.5 · 1014 n/cm2 uzrokovalo je vrlo malo proširenje m−H krivulja na nižim temperaturama (T < 20 K), dok je učinak na višim temperaturama nejasan zbog poteškoće da se postigne točna jednakost mjerne temperature prije i poslije ozračivanja. Ozračivanje na 4.5 · 1015 n/cm2 uzrokovalo je jasno proširenje m − H krivulja na svim temperaturama, što ukazuje da ionski tragovi nastali n+10B reakcijom pojačavaju zapinjanje linija magnetskog toka u MgB2. Kratko se razmatra prikladnost tog postupka za pojačanje zapinjanja linija toka u visokotemperaturnim supravodičima

TSH-CHECK-1 test: diagnostic accuracy and potential application to initiating treatment for hypothyroidism in patients on anti-tuberculosis drugs.

Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) promotes expression of thyroid hormones which are essential for metabolism, growth, and development. Second-line drugs to treat tuberculosis (TB) can cause hypothyroidism by suppressing thyroid hormone synthesis. Therefore, TSH levels are routinely measured in TB patients receiving second-line drugs, and thyroxin treatment is initiated where indicated. However, standard TSH tests are technically demanding for many low-resource settings where TB is prevalent; a simple and inexpensive test is urgently needed

Integrated care as a means to improve primary care delivery for adults and adolescents in the developing world: a critical analysis of Integrated Management of Adolescent and Adult Illness (IMAI)

Background: More than three decades after the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata enshrined the goal of ‘health for all’, high-quality primary care services remain undelivered to the great majority of the world’s poor. This failure to effectively reach the most vulnerable populations has been, in part, a failure to develop and implement appropriate and effective primary care delivery models. This paper examines a root cause of these failures, namely that the inability to achieve clear and practical consensus around the scope and aims of primary care may be contributing to ongoing operational inertia. The present work also examines integrated models of care as a strategy to move beyond conceptual dissonance in primary care and toward implementation. Finally, this paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of a particular model, the World Health Organization’s Integrated Management of Adolescent and Adult Illness (IMAI), and its potential as a guidepost toward improving the quality of primary care delivery in poor settings. Discussion Integration and integrated care may be an important approach in establishing a new paradigm of primary care delivery, though overall, current evidence is mixed. However, a number of successful specific examples illustrate the potential for clinical and service integration to positively impact patient care in primary care settings. One example deserving of further examination is the IMAI, developed by the World Health Organization as an operational model that integrates discrete vertical interventions into a comprehensive delivery system encompassing triage and screening, basic acute and chronic disease care, basic prevention and treatment services, and follow-up and referral guidelines. IMAI is an integrated model delivered at a single point-of-care using a standard approach to each patient based on the universal patient history and physical examination. The evidence base on IMAI is currently weak, but whether or not IMAI itself ultimately proves useful in advancing primary care delivery, it is these principles that should serve as the basis for developing a standard of integrated primary care delivery for adults and adolescents that can serve as the foundation for ongoing quality improvement. Summary As integrated primary care is the standard of care in the developed world, so too must we move toward implementing integrated models of primary care delivery in poorer settings. Models such as IMAI are an important first step in this evolution. A robust and sustained commitment to innovation, research and quality improvement will be required if integrated primary care delivery is to become a reality in developing world

Comprehensive and integrated district health systems strengthening: the Rwanda Population Health Implementation and Training (PHIT) Partnership

Background: Nationally, health in Rwanda has been improving since 2000, with considerable improvement since 2005. Despite improvements, rural areas continue to lag behind urban sectors with regard to key health outcomes. Partners In Health (PIH) has been supporting the Rwanda Ministry of Health (MOH) in two rural districts in Rwanda since 2005. Since 2009, the MOH and PIH have spearheaded a health systems strengthening (HSS) intervention in these districts as part of the Rwanda Population Health Implementation and Training (PHIT) Partnership. The partnership is guided by the belief that HSS interventions should be comprehensive, integrated, responsive to local conditions, and address health care access, cost, and quality. The PHIT Partnership represents a collaboration between the MOH and PIH, with support from the National University of Rwanda School of Public Health, the National Institute of Statistics, Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Description of intervention The PHIT Partnership’s health systems support aligns with the World Health Organization’s six health systems building blocks. HSS activities focus across all levels of the health system — community, health center, hospital, and district leadership — to improve health care access, quality, delivery, and health outcomes. Interventions are concentrated on three main areas: targeted support for health facilities, quality improvement initiatives, and a strengthened network of community health workers. Evaluation design The impact of activities will be assessed using population-level outcomes data collected through oversampling of the demographic and health survey (DHS) in the intervention districts. The overall impact evaluation is complemented by an analysis of trends in facility health care utilization. A comprehensive costing project captures the total expenditures and financial inputs of the health care system to determine the cost of systems improvement. Targeted evaluations and operational research pieces focus on specific programmatic components, supported by partnership-supported work to build in-country research capacity. Discussion Building on early successes, the work of the Rwanda PHIT Partnership approach to HSS has already seen noticeable increases in facility capacity and quality of care. The rigorous planned evaluation of the Partnership’s HSS activities will contribute to global knowledge about intervention methodology, cost, and population health impact

Possible Superconducting State up to 210 K in the new Composition of Y-Ba-Cu-O

We have observed the zero resistance state up to 210 K in the mixed system of nominal composition Yj.2BaOSCu04-prepared under simultaneous action oi pulsed electric field up to 30 kV/cm and uniaxial force of 180 kN. The onset of the decrease of the resistance at 281 K in the repeated cycles and preliminary data diamagnetism are understood by us as a possible superconductivity event related to a particular composition

High prevalence of childhood multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in Johannesburg, South Africa: a cross sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There are limited data on the prevalence of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), estimated at 0.6-6.7%, in African children with tuberculosis. We undertook a retrospective analysis of the prevalence of MDR-TB in children with <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>(MTB) at two hospitals in Johannesburg, South Africa.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Culture-confirmed cases of MTB in children under 14 years, attending two academic hospitals in Johannesburg, South Africa during 2008 were identified and hospital records of children diagnosed with drug-resistant TB were reviewed, including clinical and radiological outcomes at 6 and 12 months post-diagnosis. Culture of <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>complex (MTB) was performed using the automated liquid broth MGIT™ 960 method. Drug susceptibility testing (DST) was performed using the MGIT™ 960 method for both first and second-line anti-TB drugs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>1317 children were treated for tuberculosis in 2008 between the two hospitals where the study was conducted. Drug susceptibility testing was undertaken in 148 (72.5%) of the 204 children who had culture-confirmed tuberculosis. The prevalence of isoniazid-resistance was 14.2% (n = 21) (95%CI, 9.0-20.9%) and the prevalence of MDR-TB 8.8% (n = 13) (95%CI, 4.8-14.6%). The prevalence of HIV co-infection was 52.1% in children with drug susceptible-TB and 53.9% in children with MDR-TB. Ten (76.9%) of the 13 children with MDR-TB received appropriate treatment and four (30.8%) died at a median of 2.8 months (range 0.1-4.0 months) after the date of tuberculosis investigation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There is a high prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis in children in Johannesburg in a setting with a high prevalence of HIV co-infection, although no association between HIV infection and MDR-TB was found in this study. Routine HIV and drug-susceptibility testing is warranted to optimize the management of childhood tuberculosis in settings such as ours.</p

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV