13,211 research outputs found
Feasibility of Hair Collection for Cortisol Measurement in Population Research on Adolescent Health
Background: Black–White disparities in adolescent health are widespread and thought to be explained, in part, by exposure to chronic stress. Cortisol assayed from hair is increasingly recognized as a valid and reliable measure for chronic physiological stress, but the feasibility of collecting hair among large probability samples of diverse adolescents is unknown.
Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate participation in hair collection for cortisol analyses in a probability sample of racially and socioeconomically diverse adolescents, including the extent to which sociodemographic factors and adverse exposures were associated with participation.
Methods: The study included a probability sample of 516 adolescents conducted in conjunction with a prospective cohort study on adolescent health. Data were collected over 1 week via in-home interviews, ecological momentary assessment, global positioning system methods, and in-home hair collection at the end of the week.
Results: Of the 516 eligible youth, 471 (91.3%) participated in the hair collection. Of the 45 youth who did not provide hair samples, 18 had insufficient hair, 25 refused, and 2 did not participate for unknown reasons. Multivariable logistic regression results indicated that non-Hispanic Black youth were less likely than their non-Hispanic White peers to participate due to insufficient hair or refusal (OR = 0.24, 95% CI [0 .09, 0.60]). Despite lower rates of participation, the proportion of Black youth in the participating sample was representative of the study area. No significant differences in participation were found by other sociodemographic characteristics or adverse exposures.
Conclusions: Hair collection for cortisol measurement is feasible among a probability sample of racially and socioeconomically diverse adolescents. Hair cortisol analyses may accelerate research progress to understand the biological and psychosocial bases of health disparities
Probing the parameter space of HD 49933: a comparison between global and local methods
We present two independent methods for studying the global stellar parameter
space (mass M, age, initial chemical composition X_0, Z_0) of HD 49933 with
seismic data. Using a local minimization and an MCMC algorithm, we obtain
consistent results for the determination of the stellar properties: M = 1.1 -
1.2 M_solar, Age ~ 3.0 Gyr, Z_0 ~ 0.008. A description of the error ellipses
can be defined using Singular Value Decomposition techniques, and this is
validated by comparing the errors with those from the MCMC method.Comment: to be published in JPC
Decoherence of electron beams by electromagnetic field fluctuations
Electromagnetic field fluctuations are responsible for the destruction of
electron coherence (dephasing) in solids and in vacuum electron beam
interference. The vacuum fluctuations are modified by conductors and
dielectrics, as in the Casimir effect, and hence, bodies in the vicinity of the
beams can influence the beam coherence. We calculate the quenching of
interference of two beams moving in vacuum parallel to a thick plate with
permittivity . In case of an
ideal conductor or dielectric the dephasing is suppressed
when the beams are close to the surface of the plate, because the random
tangential electric field , responsible for dephasing, is zero at the
surface. The situation is changed dramatically when
or are finite. In this case there exists a layer near
the surface, where the fluctuations of are strong due to evanescent
near fields. The thickness of this near - field layer is of the order of the
wavelength in the dielectric or the skin depth in the conductor, corresponding
to a frequency which is the inverse electron time of flight from the emitter to
the detector. When the beams are within this layer their dephasing is enhanced
and for slow enough electrons can be even stronger than far from the surface
Quantum measurement and decoherence
Distribution functions defined in accord with the quantum theory of
measurement are combined with results obtained from the quantum Langevin
equation to discuss decoherence in quantum Brownian motion. Closed form
expressions for wave packet spreading and the attenuation of coherence of a
pair of wave packets are obtained. The results are exact within the context of
linear passive dissipation. It is shown that, contrary to widely accepted
current belief, decoherence can occur at high temperature in the absence of
dissipation. Expressions for the decoherence time with and without dissipation
are obtained that differ from those appearing in earlier discussions
Measured quantum probability distribution functions for Brownian motion
The quantum analog of the joint probability distributions describing a
classical stochastic process is introduced. A prescription is given for
constructing the quantum distribution associated with a sequence of
measurements. For the case of quantum Brownian motion this prescription is
illustrated with a number of explicit examples. In particular it is shown how
the prescription can be extended in the form of a general formula for the
Wigner function of a Brownian particle entangled with a heat bath.Comment: Phys. Rev. A, in pres
Wigner Distribution Function Approach to Dissipative Problems in Quantum Mechanics with emphasis on Decoherence and Measurement Theory
We first review the usefulness of the Wigner distribution functions (WDF),
associated with Lindblad and pre-master equations, for analyzing a host of
problems in Quantum Optics where dissipation plays a major role, an arena where
weak coupling and long-time approximations are valid. However, we also show
their limitations for the discussion of decoherence, which is generally a
short-time phenomenon with decay rates typically much smaller than typical
dissipative decay rates. We discuss two approaches to the problem both of which
use a quantum Langevin equation (QLE) as a starting-point: (a) use of a reduced
WDF but in the context of an exact master equation (b) use of a WDF for the
complete system corresponding to entanglement at all times
Characterisation of Campylobacter jejuni genes potentially involved in phosphonate degradation
Potential biological roles of the Campylobacter jejuni genes cj0641, cj0774c and cj1663 were investigated. The proteins encoded by these genes showed sequence similarities to the phosphonate utilisation PhnH, K and L gene products of Escherichia coli. The genes cj0641, cj0774c and cj1663 were amplified from the pathogenic C. jejuni strain 81116, sequenced, and cloned into pGEM-T Easy vectors. Recombinant plasmids were used to disrupt each one of the genes by inserting a kanamycin resistance (KmR) cassette employing site-directed mutagenesis or inverse PCR. Campylobacter jejuni 81116 isogenic mutants were generated by integration of the mutated genes into the genome of the wild-type strain. The C. jejuni mutants grew on primary isolation plates, but they could not be purified by subsequent passages owing to cell death. The mutant C. jejuni strains survived and proliferated in co-cultures with wild-type bacteria or in media in which wild-type C. jejuni had been previously grown. PCR analyses of mixed wild-type/mutant cultures served to verify the presence of the mutated gene in the genome of a fraction of the total bacterial population. The data suggested that each mutation inactivated a gene essential for survival. Rates of phosphonate catabolism in lysates of E. coli strain DH5α were determined using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Whole-cell lysates of the wild-type degraded phosphonoacetate, phenylphosphonate and aminomethylphosphonate. Significant differences in the rates of phosphonate degradation were observed between lysates of wild-type E. coli, and of bacteria transformed with each one of the vectors carrying one of the C. jejuni genes, suggesting that these genes were involved in phosphonate catabolism
Nuclear-spin relaxation of Pb in ferroelectric powders
Motivated by a recent proposal by O. P. Sushkov and co-workers to search for
a P,T-violating Schiff moment of the Pb nucleus in a ferroelectric
solid, we have carried out a high-field nuclear magnetic resonance study of the
longitudinal and transverse spin relaxation of the lead nuclei from room
temperature down to 10 K for powder samples of lead titanate (PT), lead
zirconium titanate (PZT), and a PT monocrystal. For all powder samples and
independently of temperature, transverse relaxation times were found to be
ms, while the longitudinal relaxation times exhibited a
temperature dependence, with of over an hour at the lowest temperatures,
decreasing to s at room temperature. At high temperatures, the
observed behavior is consistent with a two-phonon Raman process, while in the
low temperature limit, the relaxation appears to be dominated by a
single-phonon (direct) process involving magnetic impurities. This is the first
study of temperature-dependent nuclear-spin relaxation in PT and PZT
ferroelectrics at such low temperatures. We discuss the implications of the
results for the Schiff-moment search.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Thermodynamics of phantom black holes in Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton theory
A thermodynamic analysis of the black hole solutions coming from the
Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton theory (EMD) in 4D is done. By consider the canonical
and grand-canonical ensemble, we apply standard method as well as a recent
method known as Geometrothermodynamics (GTD). We are particularly interested in
the characteristics of the so called phantom black hole solutions. We will
analyze the thermodynamics of these solutions, the points of phase transition
and their extremal limit. Also the thermodynamic stability is analyzed. We
obtain a mismatch of the between the results of the GTD method when compared
with the ones obtained by the specific heat, revealing a weakness of the
method, as well as possible limitations of its applicability to very
pathological thermodynamic systems. We also found that normal and phantom
solutions are locally and globally unstable, unless for certain values of the
coupled constant of the EMD action. We also shown that the
anti-Reissner-Nordstrom solution does not posses extremal limit nor phase
transition points, contrary to the Reissner-Nordstrom case.Comment: 23 pages, version accepted for publication in Physical Review
Preferred Basis in a Measurement Process
The effect of decoherence is analysed for a free particle, interacting with
an environment via a dissipative coupling. The interaction between the particle
and the environment occurs by a coupling of the position operator of the
particle with the environmental degrees of freedom. By examining the exact
solution of the density matrix equation one finds that the density matrix
becomes completely diagonal in momentum with time while the position space
density matrix remains nonlocal. This establishes the momentum basis as the
emergent 'preferred basis' selected by the environment which is contrary to the
general expectation that position should emerge as the preferred basis since
the coupling with the environment is via the position coordinate.Comment: Standard REVTeX format, 10 pages of output. Accepted for publication
in Phys. Rev
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