59 research outputs found

    Effects of acceleration on the collision of particles in the rotating black hole spacetime

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    We study the collision of two geodesic particles in the accelerating and rotating black hole spacetime and probe the effects of the acceleration of black hole on the center-of-mass energy of the colliding particles and on the high-velocity collision belts. We find that the dependence of the center-of-mass energy on the acceleration in the near event-horizon collision is different from that in the near acceleration-horizon case. Moreover, the presence of the acceleration changes the shape and position of the high-velocity collision belts. Our results show that the acceleration of black holes brings richer physics for the collision of particles.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, The corrected version accepted for publication in EPJ

    Herd immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in 10 communities, qatar

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    We investigated what proportion of the population acquired severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV- 2) infection and whether the herd immunity threshold has been reached in 10 communities in Qatar. The study included 4,970 participants during June 21-September 9, 2020. Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were detected by using an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Seropositivity ranged from 54.9% (95% CI 50.2%-59.4%) to 83.8% (95% CI 79.1%-87.7%) across communities and showed a pooled mean of 66.1% (95% CI 61.5%-70.6%). A range of other epidemiologic measures indicated that active infection is rare, with limited if any sustainable infection transmission for clusters to occur. Only 5 infections were ever severe and 1 was critical in these young communities; infection severity rate of 0.2% (95% CI 0.1%-0.4%). Specifi c communities in Qatar have or nearly reached herd immunity for SARS-CoV-2 infection: 65%-70% of the population has been infected.This study was supported by the Hamad Medical Corporation, Ministry of Public Health, and the Biomedical Research Program and the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Biomathematics Research Core, both atScopu

    Vote me up if you like my ideas! Experiences of learning in a MOOC

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    Higher education is described as being in a time of crisis. In the US, tuition costs have been escalating beyond the cost of inflation for some years, students are building up significant debt, whilst completion rates are in decline. The higher education system is creaking under the strain of additional scrutiny from government, funders, parents and students, yet is struggling to re-invent itself to reduce costs whilst improving quality and increasing flexibility for learners. In a Europe facing the financial downturn, universities struggle to retain their public service ethos when budgets are under huge pressure. Elsewhere in the world, many countries plan dramatic expansion to their higher education systems to fuel their growing economies, but they are being held up by lack of infrastructure and the increased intellectual capital that is needed. Higher education is becoming a global, Internet-based business. But few universities are equipped to fully embrace the potential that this offers. Few faculty were even aware of these seismic shifts until the recent publicity around Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) which provide access to free online courses by a wide range of universities and opened to students with any academic background. They are attracting millions of students from across the globe. To what extent though is the MOOC really revolutionary and disruptive, or is it being used cynically by the most elite institutions to further increase their brand power and assert their superiority, whilst the middle tier of institutions lose student numbers and academic credibility? Do MOOCs hold the potential to support the developing world in its academic ambitions, or are they just another example of neo-colonialism? And what about online learning more broadly – are we giving enough attention to the quiet revolution of blended learning that has been taken place over many years, and what that means for higher education

    Vote me up if you like my ideas! Experiences of learning in a MOOC

    No full text
    Higher education is described as being in a time of crisis. In the US, tuition costs have been escalating beyond the cost of inflation for some years, students are building up significant debt, whilst completion rates are in decline. The higher education system is creaking under the strain of additional scrutiny from government, funders, parents and students, yet is struggling to re-invent itself to reduce costs whilst improving quality and increasing flexibility for learners. In a Europe facing the financial downturn, universities struggle to retain their public service ethos when budgets are under huge pressure. Elsewhere in the world, many countries plan dramatic expansion to their higher education systems to fuel their growing economies, but they are being held up by lack of infrastructure and the increased intellectual capital that is needed. Higher education is becoming a global, Internet-based business. But few universities are equipped to fully embrace the potential that this offers. Few faculty were even aware of these seismic shifts until the recent publicity around Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) which provide access to free online courses by a wide range of universities and opened to students with any academic background. They are attracting millions of students from across the globe. To what extent though is the MOOC really revolutionary and disruptive, or is it being used cynically by the most elite institutions to further increase their brand power and assert their superiority, whilst the middle tier of institutions lose student numbers and academic credibility? Do MOOCs hold the potential to support the developing world in its academic ambitions, or are they just another example of neo-colonialism? And what about online learning more broadly – are we giving enough attention to the quiet revolution of blended learning that has been taken place over many years, and what that means for higher education

    Direct and indirect cost of diabetes care among patients with type 2 diabetes in private clinics: a multicenter study in Punjab, Pakistan

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    Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) has a very high prevalence and poses a huge financial encumbrance on patients. This study aimed to evaluate the cost of diabetes care among patients with type 2 diabetes in private clinics of southern Punjab, Pakistan. Research design and methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional, prevalence-based, cost-of-illness (COI) study conducted in six private clinics of southern Punjab from July to September 2016, using a pretested questionnaire. Study participants were recruited using a random selection method. Continuous variables, including direct and indirect costs, were summarized using descriptive statistics. Inferential statistics were also used to analyze the correlation between the variables and cost. Results: The mean annual direct cost per patient with diabetes was estimated to be 332 USD. Medications accounted for the largest share (60.4%) of this cost. Age, locality, high socioeconomic status, and prolonged disease duration were significantly associated with the direct costs of illness (p?<?0.05). Moreover, 19% of total earnings among very low-income patients were spent on diabetes care. Conclusions: A substantial proportion of patients? income is spent on diabetes care in Punjab. Our findings support the substantial individual and societal burden caused by diabetes.This study was approved by the Ethics Committee for Medical Research of Xi?an Jiaotong University in Shaanxi, China. Permission was obtained from all practitioners in private clinics. Literate patients were asked to sign the consent form approved by the ethics committee. Illiterate patients received clarification about the contents of the written consent form, and a data collector received the patient?s permission to sign the consent form on their behalf.Scopu

    Corrosion behavior of LENS deposited CoCrMo alloy using Bayesian regularization-based artificial neural network (BRANN)

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    The well-known fact of metallurgy is that the lifetime of a metal structure depends on the material's corrosion rate. Therefore, applying an appropriate prediction of corrosion process for the manufactured metals or alloys trigger an extended life of the product. At present, the current prediction models for additive manufactured alloys are either complicated or built on a restricted basis towards corrosion depletion. This paper presents a novel approach to estimate the corrosion rate and corrosion potential prediction by considering significant major parameters such as solution time, aging time, aging temperature, and corrosion test time. The Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS), which is an additive manufacturing process used in the manufacturing of health care equipment, was investigated in the present research. All the accumulated information used to manufacture the LENS-based Cobalt-Chromium-Molybdenum (CoCrMo) alloy was considered from previous literature. They enabled to create a robust Bayesian Regularization (BR)-based Artificial Neural Network (ANN) in order to predict with accuracy the material best corrosion properties. The achieved data were validated by investigating its experimental behavior. It was found a very good agreement between the predicted values generated with the BRANN model and experimental values. The robustness of the proposed approach allows to implement the manufactured materials successfully in the biomedical implants
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