1,391 research outputs found
Projections of U.S. Edentulism Prevalence Following 5 Decades of Decline
After decades of decline in prevalence of complete tooth loss (edentulism), the trend continues to be misinterpreted, producing flawed projections and misdirected health goals. We investigated population trends in edentulism among U.S. adults aged ≥15 yr by creating time-series data from 5 national cross-sectional health surveys: 1957-1958 (n ≈ 100,000 adults), 1971-1975 (n = 14,655 adults), 1988-1998 (n = 18,011 adults), 1999-2002 (n = 12,336 adults), and 2009-2012 (n = 10,522 adults). Birth cohort analysis was used to isolate age and cohort effects. Geographic and sociodemographic variation in prevalence was investigated with a sixth U.S. survey of 432,519 adults conducted in 2010. Prevalence through 2050 was projected with age-cohort regression models using Monte-Carlo simulation of prediction intervals. Across the 5-decade observation period, edentulism prevalence declined from 18.9% in 1957-1958 (95% confidence limits: 18.4%, 19.4%) to 4.9% in 2009-2012 (95% confidence limits: 4.0%, 5.8%). The most influential determinant of the decline was the passing of generations born before the 1940s, whose rate of edentulism incidence (5%-6% per decade of age) far exceeded later cohorts (1%-3% per decade of age). High-income households experienced a greater relative decline, although a smaller absolute decline, than low-income households. By 2010, edentulism was a rare condition in high-income households, and it had contracted geographically to states with disproportionately high poverty. With the passing of generations born in the mid-20th century, the rate of decline in edentulism is projected to slow, reaching 2.6% (95% prediction limits: 2.1%, 3.1%) by 2050. The continuing decline will be offset only partially by population growth and population aging such that the predicted number of edentulous people in 2050 (8.6 million; 95% prediction limits: 6.8 million, 10.3 million) will be 30% lower than the 12.2 million edentulous people in 2010
Coherent Phonon Dynamics in Short-Period InAs/GaSb Superlattices
We have performed ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy studies on a series of
InAs/GaSb-based short-period superlattice (SL) samples with periods ranging
from 46 \AA to 71 \AA. We observe two types of oscillations in the differential
reflectivity with fast ( 1- 2 ps) and slow ( 24 ps) periods. The
period of the fast oscillations changes with the SL period and can be explained
as coherent acoustic phonons generated from carriers photoexcited within the
SL. This mode provides an accurate method for determining the SL period and
assessing interface quality. The period of the slow mode depends on the
wavelength of the probe pulse and can be understood as a propagating coherent
phonon wavepacket modulating the reflectivity of the probe pulse as it travels
from the surface into the sample.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Dynamics of entanglement for coherent excitonic states in a system of two coupled quantum dots and cavity QED
The dynamics of the entanglement for coherent excitonic states in the system
of two coupled large semiconductor quantum dots () mediated by a
single-mode cavity field is investigated. Maximally entangled coherent
excitonic states can be generated by cavity field initially prepared in odd
coherent state. The entanglement of the excitonic coherent states between two
dots reaches maximum when no photon is detected in the cavity. The effects of
the zero-temperature environment on the entanglement of excitonic coherent
state are also studied using the concurrence for two subsystems of the excitonsComment: 7 pages, 6 figure
On the exciton binding energy in a quantum well
We consider a model describing the one-dimensional confinement of an exciton
in a symmetrical, rectangular quantum-well structure and derive upper and lower
bounds for the binding energy of the exciton. Based on these bounds, we
study the dependence of on the width of the confining potential with a
higher accuracy than previous reports. For an infinitely deep potential the
binding energy varies as expected from at large widths to at
small widths. For a finite potential, but without consideration of a mass
mismatch or a dielectric mismatch, we substantiate earlier results that the
binding energy approaches the value for both small and large widths,
having a characteristic peak for some intermediate size of the slab. Taking the
mismatch into account, this result will in general no longer be true. For the
specific case of a quantum-well
structure, however, and in contrast to previous findings, the peak structure is
shown to survive.Comment: 32 pages, ReVTeX, including 9 figure
Coherent Phonons in Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene
We review recent studies of coherent phonons (CPs) corresponding to the
radial breathing mode (RBM) and G-mode in single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)
and graphene. Because of the bandgap-diameter relationship, RBM-CPs cause
bandgap oscillations in SWCNTs, modulating interband transitions at terahertz
frequencies. Interband resonances enhance CP signals, allowing for chirality
determination. Using pulse shaping, one can selectively excite
speci!c-chirality SWCNTs within an ensemble. G-mode CPs exhibit
temperature-dependent dephasing via interaction with RBM phonons. Our
microscopic theory derives a driven oscillator equation with a
density-dependent driving term, which correctly predicts CP trends within and
between (2n+m) families. We also find that the diameter can initially increase
or decrease. Finally, we theoretically study the radial breathing like mode in
graphene nanoribbons. For excitation near the absorption edge, the driving term
is much larger for zigzag nanoribbons. We also explain how the armchair
nanoribbon width changes in response to laser excitation.Comment: 48 pages, 41 figure
Physical Optimization of Quantum Error Correction Circuits
Quantum error correcting codes have been developed to protect a quantum
computer from decoherence due to a noisy environment. In this paper, we present
two methods for optimizing the physical implementation of such error correction
schemes. First, we discuss an optimal quantum circuit implementation of the
smallest error-correcting code (the three bit code). Quantum circuits are
physically implemented by serial pulses, i.e. by switching on and off external
parameters in the Hamiltonian one after another. In contrast to this, we
introduce a new parallel switching method that allows faster gate operation by
switching all external parameters simultaneously. These two methods are applied
to electron spins in coupled quantum dots subject to a Heisenberg coupling
H=J(t) S_1*S_2 which can generate the universal quantum gate
`square-root-of-swap'. Using parallel pulses, the encoding for three-bit
quantum error correction in a Heisenberg system can be accelerated by a factor
of about two. We point out that parallel switching has potential applications
for arbitrary quantum computer architectures.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure
COMT Diplotype Amplifies Effect of Stress on Risk of Temporomandibular Pain
When measured once, psychological stress predicts development of painful temporomandibular disorder (TMD). However, a single measurement fails to characterize the dynamic nature of stress over time. Moreover, effects of stress on pain likely vary according to biological susceptibility. We hypothesized that temporal escalation in stress exacerbates risk for TMD, and the effect is amplified by allelic variants in a gene, catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), regulating catechol neurotransmitter catabolism. We used data from the Orofacial Pain: Prospective Evaluation and Risk Assessment prospective cohort study of 2,707 community-dwelling adults with no lifetime history of TMD on enrollment. At baseline and quarterly periods thereafter, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) measured psychological stress. Genotyped DNA from blood samples determined COMT diplotypes. During follow-up of 0.25 to 5.2 y, 248 adults developed examiner-verified incident TMD. PSS scores at baseline were 20% greater (P < 0.001) in adults who developed incident TMD compared with TMD-free controls. Baseline PSS scores increased by 9% (P = 0.003) during follow-up in cases but remained stable in controls. This stress escalation was limited to incident cases with COMT diplotypes coding for low-activity COMT, signifying impaired catabolism of catecholamines. Cox regression models confirmed significant effects on TMD hazard of both baseline PSS (P < 0.001), modeled as a time-constant covariate, and change in PSS (P < 0.001), modeled as a time-varying covariate. Furthermore, a significant (P = 0.04) interaction of COMT diplotype and time-varying stress showed that a postbaseline increase of 1.0 standard deviation in PSS more than doubled risk of TMD incidence in subjects with low-activity COMT diplotypes (hazard ratio = 2.35; 95% confidence limits: 1.66, 3.32), an effect not found in subjects with high-activity COMT diplotypes (hazard ratio = 1.42; 95% confidence limits: 0.96, 2.09). Findings provide novel insights into dynamic effects of psychological stress on TMD pain, highlighting that effects are most pronounced in individuals whose genetic susceptibility increases responsiveness to catecholamine neurotransmitters
Generation of maximum spin entanglement induced by cavity field in quantum-dot systems
Equivalent-neighbor interactions of the conduction-band electron spins of
quantum dots in the model of Imamoglu et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 4204 (1999)]
are analyzed. Analytical solution and its Schmidt decomposition are found and
applied to evaluate how much the initially excited dots can be entangled to the
remaining dots if all of them are initially disentangled. It is demonstrated
that the perfect maximally entangled states (MES) can only be generated in the
systems of up to 6 dots with a single dot initially excited. It is also shown
that highly entangled states, approximating the MES with a good accuracy, can
still be generated in systems of odd number of dots with almost half of them
being excited. A sudden decrease of entanglement is observed by increasing the
total number of dots in a system with a fixed number of excitations.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Considerable Variability Among Transplant Nephrologists in Judging Deceased Donor Kidney Offers
Introduction: Transplant clinicians may disagree on whether or not to accept a deceased donor kidney offer. We investigated the interobserver variability between transplant nephrologists regarding organ acceptance and whether the use of a prediction model impacted their decisions.Methods: We developed an observational online survey with 6 real-life cases of deceased donor kidneys offered to a waitlisted recipient. Per case, nephrologists were asked to estimate the risk of adverse outcome and whether they would accept the offer for this patient, or for a patient of their own choice, and how certain they felt. These questions were repeated after revealing the risk of adverse outcome, calculated by a validated prediction model. Results: Sixty Dutch nephrologists completed the survey. The intraclass correlation coefficient of their estimated risk of adverse outcome was poor (0.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.08–0.62). Interobserver agreement of the decision on whether or not to accept the kidney offer was also poor (Fleiss kappa 0.13, 95% CI 0.129–0.130). The acceptance rate before and after providing the outcome of the prediction model was significantly influenced in 2 of 6 cases. Acceptance rates varied considerably among transplant centers. Conclusion: In this study, the estimated risk of adverse outcome and subsequent decision to accept a suboptimal donor kidney varied greatly among transplant nephrologists. The use of a prediction model could influence this decision and may enhance nephrologists’ certainty about their decision.</p
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