51,765 research outputs found
The relationship of dementia prevalence in older adults with intellectual disability (ID) to age and severity of ID
Background: Previous research has shown that adults with intellectual disability (ID) may be more at risk of developing dementia in old age than expected. However, the effect of age and ID severity on dementia prevalence rates has never been reported. We investigated the predictions that older adults with ID should have high prevalence rates of dementia that differ between ID severity groups and that the age-associated risk should be shifted to a younger age relative to the general population.
Method: A two-staged epidemiological survey of 281 adults with ID without Down syndrome (DS) aged >60 years; participants who screened positive with a memory task, informant-reported change in function or with the Dementia Questionnaire for Persons with Mental Retardation (DMR) underwent a detailed assessment. Diagnoses were made by psychiatrists according to international criteria. Prevalence rates were compared with UK prevalence and European consensus rates using standardized morbidity ratios (SMRs).
Results: Dementia was more common in this population (prevalence of 18.3%, SMR 2.77 in those aged >65 years). Prevalence rates did not differ between mild, moderate and severe ID groups. Age was a strong risk factor and was not influenced by sex or ID severity. As predicted, SMRs were higher for younger age groups compared to older age groups, indicating a relative shift in age-associated risk.
Conclusions: Criteria-defined dementia is 2ā3 times more common in the ID population, with a shift in risk to younger age groups compared to the general population
Multi-axis manual controllers: A state-of-the-art report
A literature search was carried out to examine the feasibility of a six degree of freedom hand controller. Factors addressed included related areas, approaches to manual control, applications of manual controllers, and selected studies of the human neuromuscular system. Results are presented
Design and development of a six degree of freedom hand controller
The design objectives of a six degree of freedom manual controller are discussed with emphasis on a space environment. Details covered include problems associated with a zero-g environment, the need to accommodate both 'shirt sleeve' and space suited astronauts, the combination of both manipulator operation and spacecraft flight control in a single device, and to accommodate restraints in space. A variable configuration device designed as a development tool in which rotational axes can be moved relative to one another, is described and its limitations discussed. Two additional devices were developed for concept testing. Each device combines the need for good quality with its ability achieve a wide range of adjustments
Six degree of freedom manual controls study report
The feasibility of using degree of freedom manual controls in space in an on orbit environment was determined. Several six degree of freedom controls were tested in a laboratory environment, and replica controls were used to control robot arms. The selection of six degrees of freedom as a design goal was based on the fact that six degrees are sufficient to define the location and orientation of a rigid body in space
Maximization of capacity and p-norms for some product channels
It is conjectured that the Holevo capacity of a product channel \Omega
\otimes \Phi is achieved when product states are used as input. Amosov, Holevo
and Werner have also conjectured that the maximal p-norm of a product channel
is achieved with product input states. In this paper we establish both of these
conjectures in the case that \Omega is arbitrary and \Phi is a CQ or QC channel
(as defined by Holevo). We also establish the Amosov, Holevo and Werner
conjecture when \Omega is arbitrary and either \Phi is a qubit channel and p=2,
or \Phi is a unital qubit channel and p is integer. Our proofs involve a new
conjecture for the norm of an output state of the half-noisy channel I \otimes
\Phi, when \Phi is a qubit channel. We show that this conjecture in some cases
also implies additivity of the Holevo capacity
Axion-like-particle decay in strong electromagnetic backgrounds
The decay of a massive pseudoscalar, scalar and U(1) boson into an
electron-positron pair in the presence of strong electromagnetic backgrounds is
calculated. Of particular interest is the constant-crossed-field limit,
relevant for experiments that aim to measure high-energy axion-like-particle
conversion into electron-positron pairs in a magnetic field. The total
probability depends on the quantum nonlinearity parameter - a product of field
and lightfront momentum invariants. Depending on the seed particle mass,
different decay regimes are identified. In the below-threshold case, we find
the probability depends on a non-perturbative tunnelling exponent depending on
the quantum parameter and the particle mass. In the above-threshold case, we
find that when the quantum parameter is varied linearly, the probability
oscillates nonlinearly around the spontaneous decay probability. A strong-field
limit is identified in which the threshold is found to disappear. In modelling
the fall-off of a quasi-constant-crossed magnetic field, we calculate
probabilities beyond the constant limit and investigate when the decay
probability can be regarded as locally constant.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure
Black Widow Pulsars: the Price of Promiscuity
The incidence of evaporating 'black widow' pulsars (BWPs) among all
millisecond pulsars (MSPs) is far higher in globular clusters than in the
field. This implies a special formation mechanism for them in clusters. Cluster
MSPs in wide binaries with WD companions exchange them for turnoff-mass stars.
These new companions eventually overflow their Roche lobes because of
encounters and tides. The millisecond pulsars eject the overflowing gas from
the binary, giving mass loss on the binary evolution timescale. The systems are
only observable as BWPs at epochs where this evolution is slow, making the mass
loss transparent and the lifetime long. This explains why observed BWPs have
low-mass companions. We suggest that at least some field BWPs were ejected from
globular clusters or entered the field population when the cluster itself was
disrupted.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, MNRAS in pres
Notes on multiplicativity of maximal output purity for completely positive qubit maps
A problem in quantum information theory that has received considerable
attention in recent years is the question of multiplicativity of the so-called
maximal output purity (MOP) of a quantum channel. This quantity is defined as
the maximum value of the purity one can get at the output of a channel by
varying over all physical input states, when purity is measured by the Schatten
-norm, and is denoted by . The multiplicativity problem is the
question whether two channels used in parallel have a combined that is
the product of the of the two channels. A positive answer would imply a
number of other additivity results in QIT.
Very recently, P. Hayden has found counterexamples for every value of .
Nevertheless, these counterexamples require that the dimension of these
channels increases with and therefore do not rule out multiplicativity
for in intervals with depending on the channel dimension. I
argue that this would be enough to prove additivity of entanglement of
formation and of the classical capacity of quantum channels.
More importantly, no counterexamples have as yet been found in the important
special case where one of the channels is a qubit-channel, i.e. its input
states are 2-dimensional. In this paper I focus attention to this qubit case
and I rephrase the multiplicativity conjecture in the language of block
matrices and prove the conjecture in a number of special cases.Comment: Manuscript for a talk presented at the SSPCM07 conference in
Myczkowce, Poland, 10/09/2007. 12 page
- ā¦