Wearable device to assist independent living.

Older people increasingly want to remain living independently in their own homes. The aim of the ENABLE project is to develop a wearable device that can be used both within and outside of the home to support older people in their daily lives and which can monitor their health status, detect potential problems, provide activity reminders and offer communication and alarm services. In order to determine the specifications and functionality required for development of the device user surveys and focus groups were undertaken and use case analysis and scenario modeling carried out. The project has resulted in the development of a wrist worn device and mobile phone combination that can support and assist older and vulnerable wearers with a range of activities and services both inside and outside of their homes. The device is currently undergoing pilot trials in five European countries. The aim of this paper is to describe the ENABLE device, its features and services, and the infrastructure within which it operates

The Horizontal Component of Photospheric Plasma Flows During the Emergence of Active Regions on the Sun

The dynamics of horizontal plasma flows during the first hours of the emergence of active region magnetic flux in the solar photosphere have been analyzed using SOHO/MDI data. Four active regions emerging near the solar limb have been considered. It has been found that extended regions of Doppler velocities with different signs are formed in the first hours of the magnetic flux emergence in the horizontal velocity field. The flows observed are directly connected with the emerging magnetic flux; they form at the beginning of the emergence of active regions and are present for a few hours. The Doppler velocities of flows observed increase gradually and reach their peak values 4-12 hours after the start of the magnetic flux emergence. The peak values of the mean (inside the +/-500 m/s isolines) and maximum Doppler velocities are 800-970 m/s and 1410-1700 m/s, respectively. The Doppler velocities observed substantially exceed the separation velocities of the photospheric magnetic flux outer boundaries. The asymmetry was detected between velocity structures of leading and following polarities. Doppler velocity structures located in a region of leading magnetic polarity are more powerful and exist longer than those in regions of following polarity. The Doppler velocity asymmetry between the velocity structures of opposite sign reaches its peak values soon after the emergence begins and then gradually drops within 7-12 hours. The peak values of asymmetry for the mean and maximal Doppler velocities reach 240-460 m/s and 710-940 m/s, respectively. An interpretation of the observable flow of photospheric plasma is given.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables. The results of article were presented at the ESPM-13 (12-16 September 2011, Rhodes, Greece, Abstract Book p. 102, P.4.12, http://astro.academyofathens.gr/espm13/documents/ESPM13_abstract_programme_book.pdf

The Relationship Between Plasma Flow Doppler Velocities and Magnetic Field Parameters During the Emergence of Active Regions at the Solar Photospheric Level

A statistical study has been carried out of the relationship between plasma flow Doppler velocities and magnetic field parameters during the emergence of active regions at the solar photospheric level with data acquired by the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). We have investigated 224 emerging active regions with different spatial scales and positions on the solar disc. The following relationships for the first hours of the emergence of active regions have been analysed: i) of peak negative Doppler velocities with the position of the emerging active regions on the solar disc; ii) of peak plasma upflow and downflow Doppler velocities with the magnetic flux growth rate and magnetic field strength for the active regions emerging near the solar disc centre (the vertical component of plasma flows); iii) of peak positive and negative Doppler velocities with the magnetic flux growth rate and magnetic field strength for the active regions emerging near the limb (the horizontal component of plasma flows); iv) of the magnetic flux growth rate with the density of emerging magnetic flux; v) of the Doppler velocities and magnetic field parameters for the first hours of the appearance of active regions with the total unsigned magnetic flux at the maximum of their development.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures. The results of article were presented at the ESPM-13 (12-16 September 2011, Rhodes, Greece, Abstract Book p. 102-103, P.4.13, http://astro.academyofathens.gr/espm13/documents/ESPM13_abstract_programme_book.pdf

Epidemiology of hip fracture and the development of FRAX in Ukraine

Summary A country-specific FRAX model has been developed for the Ukraine to replace the Austrian model hitherto used. Comparison of the Austrian and Ukrainian models indicated that the former markedly overestimated fracture probability whilst correctly stratifying risk. Introduction FRAX has been used to estimate osteoporotic fracture risk since 2009. Rather than using a surrogate model, the Austrian version of FRAX was adopted for clinical practice. Since then, data have become available on hip fracture incidence in the Ukraine. Methods The incidence of hip fracture was computed from three regional estimates and used to construct a country-specific FRAX model for the Ukraine. The model characteristics were compared with those of the Austrian FRAX model, previously used in Ukraine by using all combinations of six risk factors and eight values of BMD (total number of combinations =512). Results The relationship between the probabilities of a major fracture derived from the two versions of FRAX indicated a close correlation between the two estimates (r > 0.95). The Ukrainian version, however, gave markedly lower probabilities than the Austrian model at all ages. For a major osteoporotic fracture, the median probability was lower by 25% at age 50 years and the difference increased with age. At the age of 60, 70 and 80 years, the median value was lower by 30, 53 and 65%, respectively. Similar findings were observed for men and for hip fracture. Conclusion The Ukrainian FRAX model should enhance accuracy of determining fracture probability among the Ukrainian population and help to guide decisions about treatment. The study also indicates that the use of surrogate FRAX models or models from other countries, whilst correctly stratifying risk, may markedly over or underestimate the absolute fracture probability

Notes on Exact Multi-Soliton Solutions of Noncommutative Integrable Hierarchies

We study exact multi-soliton solutions of integrable hierarchies on noncommutative space-times which are represented in terms of quasi-determinants of Wronski matrices by Etingof, Gelfand and Retakh. We analyze the asymptotic behavior of the multi-soliton solutions and found that the asymptotic configurations in soliton scattering process can be all the same as commutative ones, that is, the configuration of N-soliton solution has N isolated localized energy densities and the each solitary wave-packet preserves its shape and velocity in the scattering process. The phase shifts are also the same as commutative ones. Furthermore noncommutative toroidal Gelfand-Dickey hierarchy is introduced and the exact multi-soliton solutions are given.Comment: 18 pages, v3: references added, version to appear in JHE

Photospheric and Subphotospheric Dynamics of Emerging Magnetic Flux

Magnetic fields emerging from the Sun's interior carry information about physical processes of magnetic field generation and transport in the convection zone. Soon after appearance on the solar surface the magnetic flux gets concentrated in sunspot regions and causes numerous active phenomena on the Sun. This paper discusses some properties of the emerging magnetic flux observed on the solar surface and in the interior. A statistical analysis of variations of the tilt angle of bipolar magnetic regions during the emergence shows that the systematic tilt with respect to the equator (the Joy's law) is most likely established below the surface. However, no evidence of the dependence of the tilt angle on the amount of emerging magnetic flux, predicted by the rising magnetic flux rope theories, is found. Analysis of surface plasma flows in a large emerging active region reveals strong localized upflows and downflows at the initial phase of emergence but finds no evidence for large-scale flows indicating future appearance a large-scale magnetic structure. Local helioseismology provides important tools for mapping perturbations of the wave speed and mass flows below the surface. Initial results from SOHO/MDI and GONG reveal strong diverging flows during the flux emergence, and also localized converging flows around stable sunspots. The wave speed images obtained during the process of formation of a large active region, NOAA 10488, indicate that the magnetic flux gets concentrated in strong field structures just below the surface. Further studies of magnetic flux emergence require systematic helioseismic observations from the ground and space, and realistic MHD simulations of the subsurface dynamics.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, to appear in Space Science Review

Search for the glueball candidates f0(1500) and fJ(1710) in gamma gamma collisions

Data taken with the ALEPH detector at LEP1 have been used to search for gamma gamma production of the glueball candidates f0(1500) and fJ(1710) via their decay to pi+pi-. No signal is observed and upper limits to the product of gamma gamma width and pi+pi- branching ratio of the f0(1500) and the fJ(1710) have been measured to be Gamma_(gamma gamma -> f0(1500)). BR(f0(1500)->pi+pi-) < 0.31 keV and Gamma_(gamma gamma -> fJ(1710)). BR(fJ(1710)->pi+pi-) < 0.55 keV at 95% confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Origins of the Ambient Solar Wind: Implications for Space Weather

The Sun's outer atmosphere is heated to temperatures of millions of degrees, and solar plasma flows out into interplanetary space at supersonic speeds. This paper reviews our current understanding of these interrelated problems: coronal heating and the acceleration of the ambient solar wind. We also discuss where the community stands in its ability to forecast how variations in the solar wind (i.e., fast and slow wind streams) impact the Earth. Although the last few decades have seen significant progress in observations and modeling, we still do not have a complete understanding of the relevant physical processes, nor do we have a quantitatively precise census of which coronal structures contribute to specific types of solar wind. Fast streams are known to be connected to the central regions of large coronal holes. Slow streams, however, appear to come from a wide range of sources, including streamers, pseudostreamers, coronal loops, active regions, and coronal hole boundaries. Complicating our understanding even more is the fact that processes such as turbulence, stream-stream interactions, and Coulomb collisions can make it difficult to unambiguously map a parcel measured at 1 AU back down to its coronal source. We also review recent progress -- in theoretical modeling, observational data analysis, and forecasting techniques that sit at the interface between data and theory -- that gives us hope that the above problems are indeed solvable.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Special issue connected with a 2016 ISSI workshop on "The Scientific Foundations of Space Weather." 44 pages, 9 figure

Search for supersymmetry with a dominant R-parity violating LQDbar couplings in e+e- collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 130GeV to 172 GeV

A search for pair-production of supersymmetric particles under the assumption that R-parity is violated via a dominant LQDbar coupling has been performed using the data collected by ALEPH at centre-of-mass energies of 130-172 GeV. The observed candidate events in the data are in agreement with the Standard Model expectation. This result is translated into lower limits on the masses of charginos, neutralinos, sleptons, sneutrinos and squarks. For instance, for m_0=500 GeV/c^2 and tan(beta)=sqrt(2) charginos with masses smaller than 81 GeV/c^2 and neutralinos with masses smaller than 29 GeV/c^2 are excluded at the 95% confidence level for any generation structure of the LQDbar coupling.Comment: 32 pages, 30 figure

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio