16,763 research outputs found
Radioisotope thermionic power supply for spacecraft
Power supply design for unmanned electric propulsion missions to outer planets utilizes a store of curium-244 in compact array of capsules as energy source. Supply subassemblies are: heat source, converter equipment which supplies power, and safety equipment. System is designed for a 72,000 hour mission
Psychoticism as a dimension of personality: A multivariate genetic test of Eysenck and Eysenck's psychoticism construct.
Thermionic reactors for electric propulsion - Parametric studies
Design parameters influence on size, mass, and reliability of thermionic reactors for electric propulsio
Familial aggregation of migraine and depression: Insights from a large Australian twin sample
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Objectives: This research examined the familial aggregation of migraine, depression, and their co-occurrence.\ud
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Methods: Diagnoses of migraine and depression were determined in a sample of 5,319 Australian twins. Migraine was diagnosed by either self-report, the ID migraineâ„¢ Screener, or International Headache Society (IHS) criteria. Depression was defined by fulfilling either major depressive disorder (MDD) or minor depressive disorder (MiDD) based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) criteria. The relative risks (RR) for migraine and depression were estimated in co-twins of twin probands reporting migraine or depression to evaluate their familial aggregation and co-occurrence.\ud
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Results: An increased RR of both migraine and depression in co-twins of probands with the same trait was observed, with significantly higher estimates within monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs compared to dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs. For cross-trait analysis, the RR for migraine in co-twins of probands reporting depression was 1.36 (95% CI: 1.24–1.48) in MZ pairs and 1.04 (95% CI: 0.95–1.14) in DZ pairs; and the RR for depression in co-twins of probands reporting migraine was 1.26 (95% CI: 1.14–1.38) in MZ pairs and 1.02 (95% CI: 0.94–1.11) in DZ pairs. The RR for strict IHS migraine in co-twins of probands reporting MDD was 2.23 (95% CI: 1.81–2.75) in MZ pairs and 1.55 (95% CI: 1.34–1.79) in DZ pairs; and the RR for MDD in co-twins of probands reporting IHS migraine was 1.35 (95% CI: 1.13–1.62) in MZ pairs and 1.06 (95% CI: 0.93–1.22) in DZ pairs.\ud
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Conclusions: We observed significant evidence for a genetic contribution to familial aggregation of migraine and depression. Our findings suggest a bi-directional association between migraine and depression, with an increased risk for depression in relatives of probands reporting migraine, and vice versa. However, the observed risk for migraine in relatives of probands reporting depression was considerably higher than the reverse. These results add further support to previous studies suggesting that patients with comorbid migraine and depression are genetically more similar to patients with only depression than patients with only migraine
Shared genetic factors underlie migraine and depression
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Migraine frequently co-occurs with depression. Using a large sample of Australian twin pairs, we aimed to characterize the extent to which shared genetic factors underlie these two disorders. Migraine was classified using three diagnostic measures, including self-reported migraine, the ID migraine screening tool, or migraine without aura (MO) and migraine with aura (MA) based on International Headache Society (IHS) diagnostic criteria. Major depressive disorder (MDD) and minor depressive disorder (MiDD) were classified using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) criteria. Univariate and bivariate twin models, with and without sex-limitation, were constructed to estimate the univariate and bivariate variance components and genetic correlation for migraine and depression. The univariate heritability of broad migraine (self-reported, ID migraine, or IHS MO/MA) and broad depression (MiDD or MDD) was estimated at 56% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 53-60%) and 42% (95% CI: 37-46%), respectively. A significant additive genetic correlation (r G = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.29-0.43) and bivariate heritability (h 2 = 5.5%, 95% CI: 3.6-7.8%) was observed between broad migraine and depression using the bivariate Cholesky model. Notably, both the bivariate h 2 (13.3%, 95% CI: 7.0-24.5%) and r G (0.51, 95% CI: 0.37-0.69) estimates significantly increased when analyzing the more narrow clinically accepted diagnoses of IHS MO/MA and MDD. Our results indicate that for both broad and narrow definitions, the observed comorbidity between migraine and depression can be explained almost entirely by shared underlying genetically determined disease mechanisms
Electron Transport through a Molecular Conductor with Center-of-Mass Motion
The linear conductance of a molecular conductor oscillating between two
metallic leads is investigated numerically both for Hubbard interacting and
noninteracting electrons. The molecule-leads tunneling barriers depend on the
molecule displacement from its equilibrium position. The results present an
interesting interference which leads to a conductance dip at the electron-hole
symmetry point, that could be experimentally observable. It is shown that this
dip is caused by the destructive interference between the purely electronic and
phonon-assisted tunneling channels, which are found to carry opposite phases.
When an internal vibrational mode is also active, the electron-hole symmetry is
broken but a Fano-like interference is still observed
Kondo regime in triangular arrangements of quantum dots: Molecular orbitals, interference and contact effects
Transport properties of an interacting triple quantum dot system coupled to
three leads in a triangular geometry has been studied in the Kondo regime.
Applying mean-field finite-U slave boson and embedded cluster approximations to
the calculation of transport properties unveils a set of rich features
associated to the high symmetry of this system. Results using both calculation
techniques yield excellent overall agreement and provide additional insights
into the physical behavior of this interesting geometry. In the case when just
two current leads are connected to the three-dot system, interference effects
between degenerate molecular orbitals are found to strongly affect the overall
conductance. An S=1 Kondo effect is also shown to appear for the perfect
equilateral triangle symmetry. The introduction of a third current lead results
in an `amplitude leakage' phenomenon, akin to that appearing in beam splitters,
which alters the interference effects and the overall conductance through the
system.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, submitted to PR
Upward Three-Dimensional Grid Drawings of Graphs
A \emph{three-dimensional grid drawing} of a graph is a placement of the
vertices at distinct points with integer coordinates, such that the straight
line segments representing the edges do not cross. Our aim is to produce
three-dimensional grid drawings with small bounding box volume. We prove that
every -vertex graph with bounded degeneracy has a three-dimensional grid
drawing with volume. This is the broadest class of graphs admiting
such drawings. A three-dimensional grid drawing of a directed graph is
\emph{upward} if every arc points up in the z-direction. We prove that every
directed acyclic graph has an upward three-dimensional grid drawing with
volume, which is tight for the complete dag. The previous best upper
bound was . Our main result is that every -colourable directed
acyclic graph ( constant) has an upward three-dimensional grid drawing with
volume. This result matches the bound in the undirected case, and
improves the best known bound from for many classes of directed
acyclic graphs, including planar, series parallel, and outerplanar
Invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b disease in elderly nursing home residents: two related cases.
We investigated two fatal cases of invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infection in a community nursing home in western Sydney, Australia. Two elderly women had lived in the same room, and the onset of their illness was 5 days apart. Hib isolates from blood cultures showed identical profiles by pulsed field gel electrophoresis. These findings suggest that Hib infection was transmitted within this nursing home. Serious Hib disease may be underrecognized in this setting. Continued surveillance and serotyping of invasive H. influenzae disease is essential for identifying groups at increasing risk that may benefit from immunization against Hib
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