Penetration of hot electrons through a cold disordered wire

We study a penetration of an electron with high energy E<<T through strongly disordered wire of length L<<a (a being the localization length). Such an electron can loose, but not gain the energy, when hopping from one localized state to another. We have found a distribution function for the transmission coefficient t. The typical t remains exponentially small in L/a, but with the decrement, reduced compared to the case of direct elastic tunnelling. The distribution function has a relatively strong tail in the domain of anomalously high t; the average ~(a/L)^2 is controlled by rare configurations of disorder, corresponding to this tail.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

The Emergence of the Infrared transient VVV-WIT-06

We report the discovery of an enigmatic large-amplitude (ΔKs> 10.5 mag) transient event in near-IR data obtained by the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) ESO Public Survey. The object (designated VVV-WIT-06) is located at R.A. = 17:07:18.917, decl. = -39:06:26.45 (J2000), corresponding to Galactic coordinates l = 347.14539, b = 0.88522. It exhibits a clear eruption, peaking at Ks = 9 mag during 2013 July and fading to Ks ~ 16.5 in 2017. Our late near-IR spectra show post-outburst emission lines, including some broad emission lines (upward of {FWHM} ~ 3000 k/s). We estimate a total extinction of A_V=10--15 mag in the surrounding field, and no progenitor was observed in ZYJHKs images obtained during 2010-2012 (down to Ks> 18.5 mag). Subsequent deep near-IR imaging and spectroscopy, in concert with the available multiband photometry, indicate that VVV-WIT-06 may be either: (I) the closest Type I SN observed in about 400 years, (II) an exotic high-amplitude nova that would extend the known realm of such objects, or (III) a stellar merger. In all of these cases, VVV-WIT-06 is a fascinating and curious astrophysical target under any of the scenarios considered.Peer reviewe

Rapid intensification of Typhoon Hato (2017) over shallow water

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Pun, I., Chan, J. C. L., Lin, I., Chan, K. T. E., Price, J. F., Ko, D. S., Lien, C., Wu, Y., & Huang, H. Rapid intensification of Typhoon Hato (2017) over shallow water. Sustainability, 11(13), (2019): 3709, doi:10.3390/su11133709.On 23 August, 2017, Typhoon Hato rapidly intensified by 10 kt within 3 h just prior to landfall in the city of Macau along the South China coast. Hato’s surface winds in excess of 50 m s−1 devastated the city, causing unprecedented damage and social impact. This study reveals that anomalously warm ocean conditions in the nearshore shallow water (depth < 30 m) likely played a key role in Hato’s fast intensification. In particular, cooling of the sea surface temperature (SST) generated by Hato at the critical landfall point was estimated to be only 0.1–0.5 °C. The results from both a simple ocean mixing scheme and full dynamical ocean model indicate that SST cooling was minimized in the shallow coastal waters due to a lack of cool water at depth. Given the nearly invariant SST in the coastal waters, we estimate a large amount of heat flux, i.e., 1.9k W m−2, during the landfall period. Experiments indicate that in the absence of shallow bathymetry, and thus, if nominal cool water had been available for vertical mixing, the SST cooling would have been enhanced from 0.1 °C to 1.4 °C, and sea to air heat flux reduced by about a quarter. Numerical simulations with an atmospheric model suggest that the intensity of Hato was very sensitive to air-sea heat flux in the coastal region, indicating the critical importance of coastal ocean hydrography.The work of I.-F.P. is supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology Grant MOST 107-2111-M-008-001-MY3. The work of J.C.L.C. is supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong Grant E-CityU101/16. The work of I.-I.L. is supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST 106-2111-M-002-011-MY3, MOST 108-2111-M-002-014-MY2). The work of K.T.F.C. is jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41775097), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Macau Science and Technology Development Joint Fund (NSFC-FDCT), China and Macau (41861164027)

Universal Crossover between Efros-Shklovskii and Mott Variable-Range-Hopping Regimes

A universal scaling function, describing the crossover between the Mott and the Efros-Shklovskii hopping regimes, is derived, using the percolation picture of transport in strongly localized systems. This function is agrees very well with experimental data. Quantitative comparison with experiment allows for the possible determination of the role played by polarons in the transport.Comment: 7 pages + 1 figure, Revte

Non-western immigrants' satisfaction with the general practitioners' services in Oslo, Norway

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Over the last few years the number of immigrants from the non-western parts of the world living in Oslo, has increased considerably. We need to know if these immigrants are satisfied with the health services they are offered. The aim of this study was to assess whether the immigrants' level of satisfaction with visits to general practitioners was comparable with that for ethnic Norwegians.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two population-based surveys, the Oslo Health Study and the Oslo Immigrant Health Study, were performed on selected groups of Oslo citizens in 2000 and 2002. The response rates were 46% and 33%, respectively. In all, 11936 Norwegians and 1102 non-western immigrants from the Oslo Health Study, and 1774 people from the Oslo Immigrant Health Study, were included in this analysis. Non-western immigrants' and ethnic Norwegians' level of satisfaction with visits to general practitioners were analysed with respect to age, gender, health, working status, and use of translators. Bivariate (Chi square) and multivariate analyses (logistic regression) were performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Most participants were either moderately or very satisfied with their last visit to a general practitioner. Non-western immigrants were less satisfied than Norwegians. Dissatisfaction among the immigrants was associated with young age, a feeling of not having good health, and coming from Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, or Vietnam as compared to Sri Lanka. The attendance rates in the surveys were rather low and lowest among the non-western immigrants.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although the degree of satisfaction with the primary health care was relatively high among the participants in these surveys, the non-western immigrants in this study were less satisfied than ethnic Norwegians with their last visit to a general practitioner. The rather low response rates opens for the possibility that the degree of satisfaction may not be representative for all immigrants.</p

The self-assessed psychological comorbidities of prurigo in Europe: data from the ESDAP study

PS16 Prurigo is defined by the presence of chronic pruritus and multiple localized or generalized pruriginous lesions. The aim of this study was to assess the psychological burden of prurigo in patients of European countries. In this multicentre European study, 3, 635 general dermatology outpatients and 1, 359 controls were included. Socio-demographic data and answers to questionnaires (regarding quality of life, general health, anxiety and depression and suicidal ideation) were collected.There were 27 patients with prurigo; of these, 63% were men, and the mean age was 58.6 years. Among patients with prurigo, 10 of 27 (37%) suffered from anxiety and 8 of 27 (29%) from depression. Suicidal ideation was reported in 5 of 27 (19%) patients, and for 4 of these 5 patients, suicidal ideation was related to their skin disease. These frequencies were higher in the 10 commonest dermatological diseases (including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and leg ulcers). The impact on quality of life was severe, with a mean Dermatologic Life Quality Index (DLQI) of 12.4, with an extreme impact on quality of life for 23% of patients and a very large impact for 27% of patients.The psychological comorbidities of prurigo are common, greater than those of other skin diseases, and their impact on quality of life is significant. Thus, it is important to study this condition and to find new treatments

Family composition and age at menarche: findings from the international Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Study

This research was funded by The University of St Andrews and NHS Health Scotland.Background Early menarche has been associated with father absence, stepfather presence and adverse health consequences in later life. This article assesses the association of different family compositions with the age at menarche. Pathways are explored which may explain any association between family characteristics and pubertal timing. Methods Cross-sectional, international data on the age at menarche, family structure and covariates (age, psychosomatic complaints, media consumption, physical activity) were collected from the 2009–2010 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey. The sample focuses on 15-year old girls comprising 36,175 individuals across 40 countries in Europe and North America (N = 21,075 for age at menarche). The study examined the association of different family characteristics with age at menarche. Regression and path analyses were applied incorporating multilevel techniques to adjust for the nested nature of data within countries. Results Living with mother (Cohen’s d = .12), father (d = .08), brothers (d = .04) and sisters (d = .06) are independently associated with later age at menarche. Living in a foster home (d = −.16), with ‘someone else’ (d = −.11), stepmother (d = −.10) or stepfather (d = −.06) was associated with earlier menarche. Path models show that up to 89% of these effects can be explained through lifestyle and psychological variables. Conclusions Earlier menarche is reported amongst those with living conditions other than a family consisting of two biological parents. This can partly be explained by girls’ higher Body Mass Index in these families which is a biological determinant of early menarche. Lower physical activity and elevated psychosomatic complaints were also more often found in girls in these family environments.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Inhibition of biofilm formation in Bacillus subtilis by new halogenated furanones

© 2015 Japan Antibiotics Research Association All rights reserved. Gram-positive bacteria can cause various infections including hospital-acquired infections. While in the biofilm, the resistance of bacteria to both antibiotics and the human immune system is increased causing difficulties in the treatment. Bacillus subtilis, a non-pathogenic Gram-positive bacterium, is widely used as a model organism for studying biofilm formation. Here we investigated the effect of novel synthesized chloro- and bromo-containing 2(5H)-furanones on biofilm formation by B. subtilis. Mucobromic acid (3,4-dibromo-5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone) and the two derivatives of mucochloric acid (3,4-dichloro-5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone) - F8 and F12 - were found to inhibit the growth and to efficiently prevent biofilm formation by B. subtilis. Along with the low production of polysaccharide matrix and repression of the eps operon, strong repression of biofilm-related yqxM also occurred in the presence of furanones. Therefore, our data confirm that furanones affect significantly the regulatory pathway(s) leading to biofilm formation. We propose that the global regulator, Spo0A, is one of the potential putative cellular targets for these compounds

Effect of shunted piezoelectric control for tuning piezoelectric power harvesting system responses – Analytical techniques

This paper presents new analytical modelling of shunt circuit control responses for tuning electromechanical piezoelectric vibration power harvesting structures with proof mass offset. For this combination, the dynamic closed-form boundary value equations reduced from strong form variational principles were developed using the extended Hamiltonian principle to formulate the new coupled orthonormalised electromechanical power harvesting equations showing combinations of the mechanical system (dynamical behaviour of piezoelectric structure), electromechanical system (electrical piezoelectric response) and electrical system (tuning and harvesting circuits). The reduced equations can be further formulated to give the complete forms of new electromechanical multi-mode FRFs and time waveform of the standard AC-DC circuit interface. The proposed technique can demonstrate self-adaptive harvesting response capabilities for tuning the frequency band and the power amplitude of the harvesting devices. The self-adaptive tuning strategies are demonstrated by modelling the shunt circuit behaviour of the piezoelectric control layer in order to optimise the harvesting piezoelectric layer during operation under input base excitation. In such situations, with proper tuning parameters the system performance can be substantially improved. Moreover, the validation of the closed-form technique is also provided by developing the Ritz method-based weak form analytical approach giving similar results. Finally, the parametric analytical studies have been explored to identify direct and relevant contributions for vibration power harvesting behaviours