The effect direction plot: visual display of non-standardised effects across multiple outcome domains

Visual display of reported impacts is a valuable aid to both reviewers and readers of systematic reviews. Forest plots are routinely prepared to report standardised effect sizes, but where standardised effect sizes are not available for all included studies a forest plot may misrepresent the available evidence. Tabulated data summaries to accompany the narrative synthesis can be lengthy and inaccessible. Moreover, the link between the data and the synthesis conclusions may be opaque. This paper details the preparation of visual summaries of effect direction for multiple outcomes across 29 quantitative studies of the health impacts of housing improvement. A one page summary of reported health outcomes was prepared to accompany a 10 000-word narrative synthesis. The one page summary included details of study design, internal validity, sample size, time of follow-up, as well as changes in intermediate outcomes, for example, housing condition. This approach to visually summarising complex data can aid the reviewer in cross-study analysis and improve accessibility and transparency of the narrative synthesis where standardised effect sizes are not available

Scalar and vector self-energies of heavy baryons in nuclear medium

The in-medium sum rules are employed to calculate the shifts in the mass and residue as well as the scalar and vector self-energies of the heavy $\Lambda_Q, \Sigma_Q$ and $\Xi_Q$ baryons, with Q being $b$ or $c$ quark. The maximum shift in mass due to nuclear matter belongs to the $\Sigma_c$ baryon and it is found to be $\Delta m_{\Sigma_{c}}=-936 ~ MeV$. In the case of residue, it is obtained that the residue of $\Sigma_b$ baryon is maximally affected by the nuclear medium with the shift $\Delta \lambda_{\Sigma_b} = -0.014 ~ GeV^3$. The scalar and vector self-energies are found to be $\Sigma^{S}_{\Lambda_b} = 653 ~ MeV$, $\Sigma^{S}_{\Sigma_b} = -614 ~ MeV$, $\Sigma^{S}_{\Xi_b} = -17 ~ MeV$, $\Sigma^{S}_{\Lambda_c} = 272 ~ MeV$, $\Sigma^{S}_{\Sigma_c} = -936 ~ MeV$, $\Sigma^{S}_{\Xi_c} = -5 ~ MeV$ and $\Sigma^{\nu}_{\Lambda_b} = 436 \pm 148 ~ MeV$, $\Sigma^{\nu}_{\Sigma_b} = 382 \pm 129 ~MeV$, $\Sigma^{\nu}_{\Xi_b} =15 \pm 5 ~ MeV$, $\Sigma^{\nu}_{\Lambda_c} = 151 \pm 45 ~ MeV$, $\Sigma^{\nu}_{\Sigma_c} = 486 \pm 144 ~ MeV$ and $\Sigma^{\nu}_{\Xi_c} = 1.391 \pm 0.529 ~ MeV$.Comment: 13 Pages, 11 Figures and 5 Table

More about the BB and DD mesons in nuclear matter

We calculate the shifts in decay constants of the pseudoscalar $B$ and $D$ mesons in nuclear medium in the frame work of QCD sum rules. We write those shifts in terms of the $B-N$ and $D-N$ scattering lengths and an extra phenomenological parameter entered to calculations. Computing an appreciate forward scattering correlation function, we derive the QCD sum rules for the $B-N$ and $D-N$ scattering lengths and the extra phenomenological parameter in terms of various operators in nuclear medium. We numerically find the values of the shifts in the decay constants compared to their vacuum values. Using the sum rules obtained, we also determine the shifts in the masses of these particles due to nuclear matter and compare the results obtained with the previous predictions in the literature.Comment: 16 Pages, 4 Figures and 3 Table

Positive and negative parity hyperons in nuclear medium

The effects of nuclear medium on the residue, mass and self energy of the positive and negative parity $\Sigma$, $\Lambda$ and $\Xi$ hyperons are investigated using the QCD sum rule method. In the calculations, the general interpolating currents of hyperons with an arbitrary mixing parameter are used. We compare the results obtained in medium with those of the vacuum and calculate the shifts in the corresponding parameters. It is found that the shifts on the residues in nuclear matter are over all positive for both the positive and negative parity hyperons, except for the positive parity $\Sigma$ hyperon that the shift is negative. The shifts on the masses of these baryons are obtained to be negative. The shifts on the residues and masses of negative parity states are large compared to those of positive parities. The maximum shift belongs to the residue of the negative parity $\Lambda$ hyperon. The vector self-energies gained by the positive parity baryons are large compared to the negative parities' vector self-energies. The maximum value of the vector self-energy belongs to the positive parity $\Sigma$ hyperon. The numerical values are compared with the existing predictions in the literature.Comment: 20 Pages, 9 Figures and 7 Table

Model of unidirectional block formation leading to reentrant ventricular tachycardia in the infarct border zone of postinfarction canine hearts

AbstractBackgroundWhen the infarct border zone is stimulated prematurely, a unidirectional block line (UBL) can form and lead to double-loop (figure-of-eight) reentrant ventricular tachycardia (VT) with a central isthmus. The isthmus is composed of an entrance, center, and exit. It was hypothesized that for certain stimulus site locations and coupling intervals, the UBL would coincide with the isthmus entrance boundary, where infarct border zone thickness changes from thin-to-thick in the travel direction of the premature stimulus wavefront.MethodA quantitative model was developed to describe how thin-to-thick changes in the border zone result in critically convex wavefront curvature leading to conduction block, which is dependent upon coupling interval. The model was tested in 12 retrospectively analyzed postinfarction canine experiments. Electrical activation was mapped for premature stimulation and for the first reentrant VT cycle. The relationship of functional conduction block forming during premature stimulation to functional block during reentrant VT was quantified.ResultsFor an appropriately placed stimulus, in accord with model predictions: 1. The UBL and reentrant VT isthmus lateral boundaries overlapped (error: 4.8±5.7mm). 2. The UBL leading edge coincided with the distal isthmus where the center-entrance boundary would be expected to occur. 3. The mean coupling interval was 164.6±11.0ms during premature stimulation and 190.7±20.4ms during the first reentrant VT cycle, in accord with model calculations, which resulted in critically convex wavefront curvature and functional conduction block, respectively, at the location of the isthmus entrance boundary and at the lateral isthmus edges.DiscussionReentrant VT onset following premature stimulation can be explained by the presence of critically convex wavefront curvature and unidirectional block at the isthmus entrance boundary when the premature stimulation interval is sufficiently short. The double-loop reentrant circuit pattern is a consequence of wavefront bifurcation around this UBL followed by coalescence, and then impulse propagation through the isthmus. The wavefront is blocked from propagating laterally away from the isthmus by sharp increases in border zone thickness, which results in critically convex wavefront curvature at VT cycle lengths

Peranan Kepolisian terhadap Pelanggaran Penggunaan Jalan Umum untuk Kepentingan Pelaksanaan Pesta Diwilayah Hukum Kota Pekanbaru

The use of the facilities or the road to self-interest must have a permit issued by the Police as a party is given the authority to issue licenses for the use of road traffic other than as stipulated in the Indonesian Police Chief Regulation No. 10 Year 2012 About Setting Traffic In Certain Circumstances in addition to the use of the Road Traffic events , people can use the highway to conduct an activity to the extent they have to get permission from the police . The purpose of writing this paper , First , The Role of the Police in granting permission for the use of public roads in the region law enforcement party Pekanbaru city ? Secondly, the effectiveness of the application of sanctions against violations of the use of public roads for the implementation of the party in reducing the occurrence of acts of violation of law in the region use public roads Pekanbaru city?This type of research is conducted legal research Sociological , while the population and sample an entire party is related to the problem under study , which used data sources , primary data , secondary data , and the data tertiary , data collection techniques in this study with interviews , questionnaires and literature study From the research, there are two main things that can be concluded . First , that the role of the Police in granting permission to use the road for the implementation of the party consists of granting or rejection , as well as disseminating regulatory Chief of Police of Indonesia Number 10 Year 2012 Second, the effectiveness of the application of sanctions against violations of the use of public roads for the implementation of the party had not been effective . advice authors , first , expected to police in giving permission should really factor memperhtikan road to be used for a party , and to always socialize again to the public about the regulations permit the use of the road . Second , are expected to police to take action against violations of the use of the road for the sake of the party

Star forming regions of the southern galaxy

A catalog of southern dust cloud properties is being compiled to aid in the planning and analysis of radio spectral line surveys in the southern hemisphere. Ultimately, images of dust temperature and column density will be produced. For the interim, a list of the 60 and 100 micron fluxes was prepared for the cores and adjacent backgrounds of 65 prominent dust clouds. Dust temperatures and column densities were derived

Throughput Scaling of Wireless Networks With Random Connections

This work studies the throughput scaling laws of ad hoc wireless networks in the limit of a large number of nodes. A random connections model is assumed in which the channel connections between the nodes are drawn independently from a common distribution. Transmitting nodes are subject to an on-off strategy, and receiving nodes employ conventional single-user decoding. The following results are proven: 1) For a class of connection models with finite mean and variance, the throughput scaling is upper-bounded by $O(n^{1/3})$ for single-hop schemes, and $O(n^{1/2})$ for two-hop (and multihop) schemes. 2) The $\Theta (n^{1/2})$ throughput scaling is achievable for a specific connection model by a two-hop opportunistic relaying scheme, which employs full, but only local channel state information (CSI) at the receivers, and partial CSI at the transmitters. 3) By relaxing the constraints of finite mean and variance of the connection model, linear throughput scaling $\Theta (n)$ is achievable with Pareto-type fading models.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, To appear in IEEE Transactions on Information Theor

Optical measurements of phase steps in segmented mirrors - fundamental precision limits

Phase steps are an important type of wavefront aberrations generated by large telescopes with segmented mirrors. In a closed-loop correction cycle these phase steps have to be measured with the highest possible precision using natural reference stars, that is with a small number of photons. In this paper the classical Fisher information of statistics is used for calculating the Cramer-Rao bound, which determines the limit to the precision with which the height of the steps can be estimated in an unbiased fashion with a given number of photons and a given measuring device. Four types of measurement devices are discussed: a Shack-Hartmann sensor with one small cylindrical lenslet covering a sub-aperture centred over a border, a modified Mach-Zehnder interferometer, a Foucault test, and a curvature sensor. The Cramer-Rao bound is calculated for all sensors under ideal conditions, that is narrowband measurements without additional noise or disturbances apart from the photon shot noise. This limit is compared with the ultimate quantum statistical limit for the estimate of such a step which is independent of the measuring device. For the Shack-Hartmann sensor, the effects on the Cramer-Rao bound of broadband measurements, finite sampling, and disturbances such as atmospheric seeing and detector readout noise are also investigated. The methods presented here can be used to compare the precision limits of various devices for measuring phase steps and for optimising the parameters of the devices. Under ideal conditions the Shack-Hartmann and the Foucault devices nearly attain the ultimate quantum statistical limits, whereas the Mach-Zehnder and the curvature devices each require approximately twenty times as many photons in order to reach the same precision.Comment: 23 pages, 19 figures, to be submitted to Journal of Modern Optic

Spinodal Instabilities in Nuclear Matter in a Stochastic Relativistic Mean-Field Approach

Spinodal instabilities and early growth of baryon density fluctuations in symmetric nuclear matter are investigated in the basis of stochastic extension of relativistic mean-field approach in the semi-classical approximation. Calculations are compared with the results of non-relativistic calculations based on Skyrme-type effective interactions under similar conditions. A qualitative difference appears in the unstable response of the system: the system exhibits most unstable behavior at higher baryon densities around $\rho_{b}=0.4 ~\rho_{0}$ in the relativistic approach while most unstable behavior occurs at lower baryon densities around $\rho_{b}=0.2 ~\rho_{0}$ in the non-relativistic calculationsComment: 18 pages, 7 figure