Electric quadrupole transitions of the Bohr Hamiltonian with the Morse potential

Eigenfunctions of the collective Bohr Hamiltonian with the Morse potential have been obtained by using the Asymptotic Iteration Method (AIM) for both gamma-unstable and rotational structures. B(E2) transition rates have been calculated and compared to experimental data. Overall good agreement is obtained for transitions within the ground state band, while some interband transitions appear to be systematically underpredicted in gamma-unstable nuclei and overpredicted in rotational nuclei.Comment: LaTeX, 19 page

Perencanaan Pembangunan Sumber Daya Aparatur melalui Penyusunan Formasi Pegawai Negeri Sipil Daerah di Kabupaten Magetan

Pelaksanaan pembangunan dan penyelenggaraan pelayanan sektor publik yang efektif dan efisien membutuhkan sumber daya aparatur pemerintah yang profesional, memiliki kompetensi dan jumlah yang tepat, namun hal tersebut belum sepenuhnya terwujud. Untuk itu diperlukan perbaikan dalam pengelolaan kepegawaian ke arah yang lebih baik terutama perencanaan untuk formasi pegawai. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan: (1) Perencanaan sumber daya aparatur melalui penyusunan formasi Pegawai Negeri Sipil Daerah yang dilaksanakan di Kabupaten Magetan; dan (2) Faktor-faktor yang berkaitan dengan penyusunan formasi Pegawai Negeri Sipil Daerah di Kabupaten Magetan. Dalam penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif, dengan jenis deskriptif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa: (1) Perencanaan sumber daya aparatur di Kabupaten Magetan dituangkan dalam Rencana Strategis Badan Kepegawaian Daerah Kabupaten Magetan yang diwujudkan dalam berbagai perencanaan di bidang aparatur antara lain penyusunan formasi Pegawai Negeri Sipil yang pada tahun 2013 menggunakan data analisis jabatan dan analisis beban kerja, namun hasilnya tidak optimal karena data tersebut tidak akurat/valid; (2) faktor-faktor yang berkaitan dan menyebabkan hal tersebut adalah komitmen manajemen, kebijakan pemerintah, sumber daya perencana kepegawaian, sistem informasi sumber daya manusia atau SIMPEG dan anggaran yang belum sesuai dengan yang diharapkan

Pattern and Outcome of Chest Injuries at Bugando Medical Centre in Northwestern Tanzania.

Chest injuries constitute a continuing challenge to the trauma or general surgeon practicing in developing countries. This study was conducted to outline the etiological spectrum, injury patterns and short term outcome of these injuries in our setting. This was a prospective study involving chest injury patients admitted to Bugando Medical Centre over a six-month period from November 2009 to April 2010 inclusive. A total of 150 chest injury patients were studied. Males outnumbered females by a ratio of 3.8:1. Their ages ranged from 1 to 80 years (mean = 32.17 years). The majority of patients (72.7%) sustained blunt injuries. Road traffic crush was the most common cause of injuries affecting 50.7% of patients. Chest wall wounds, hemothorax and rib fractures were the most common type of injuries accounting for 30.0%, 21.3% and 20.7% respectively. Associated injuries were noted in 56.0% of patients and head/neck (33.3%) and musculoskeletal regions (26.7%) were commonly affected. The majority of patients (55.3%) were treated successfully with non-operative approach. Underwater seal drainage was performed in 39 patients (19.3%). One patient (0.7%) underwent thoracotomy due to hemopericardium. Thirty nine patients (26.0%) had complications of which wound sepsis (14.7%) and complications of long bone fractures (12.0%) were the most common complications. The mean LOS was 13.17 days and mortality rate was 3.3%. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, associated injuries, the type of injury, trauma scores (ISS, RTS and PTS) were found to be significant predictors of the LOS (P < 0.001), whereas mortality was significantly associated with pre-morbid illness, associated injuries, trauma scores (ISS, RTS and PTS), the need for ICU admission and the presence of complications (P < 0.001). Chest injuries resulting from RTCs remain a major public health problem in this part of Tanzania. Urgent preventive measures targeting at reducing the occurrence of RTCs is necessary to reduce the incidence of chest injuries in this region

Normal gas exchange after 30-h ischemia and treatment with phosphodiesterase inhibitor PDI747

Objective: Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) negatively regulate the concentrations of cAMP and/or cGMP, which act as downstream second messengers to the prostaglandins. PDE type-4 (PDE4) is selective for cAMP and is found in high concentrations in endothelial, epithelial, and different blood cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate if PDI747, a novel selective inhibitor of PDE4, can restore pretransplant cAMP levels and thereby posttransplant organ function after prolonged cold ischemia. Methods: Left lung transplantation was performed in pigs (25-31 kg). Donor lungs were flushed with low potassium dextran glucose (LPDG) solution only (control, n=5)or, in addition with 1 μmol of PDI747 (PDI747, n=5) and stored for 30 h at 1 °C. PDI747 animals further received a bolus of PDI747 (0.3 mg/kg) 15 min prior to reperfusion and a continuous infusion (0.3 mg/kg per hour) during the 5 h after reperfusion. After occlusion of the right pulmonary arteries and the right main bronchus, hemodynamic and gas exchange parameters and extravascular lung water (EVLW) levels of the transplanted lung were assessed. Results: Two control animals died of severe lung edema leading to heart failure (control, n=3). One animal in the treatment group was excluded due to a patent ductus arteriosus (PDI747, n=4). Gas exchange at the end of the experiment was restored to normal levels in the PDI747 group (Pa, o2 47.6±11.2 kPa, Pa,co2 6.4±1.8 kPa) but not in the control group (Pa, o2 7.7±2.9 kPa, Pa, co2 11.9±3.0 kPa, PPao2<0.0001, PPa, co2=0.06). Extravascular lung water (EVLW) was normal in the PDI747 group (8.5±1.1 ml/kg) and clearly elevated in the control group (16.2±5.6 ml/kg, P=0.007). Airway pressure in the PDI747 group was significantly lower than in the control group (7.8±0.5 cm H2O vs. 11.3±0.6 cm H2O, respectively, P<0.0001). The free radical mediated tissue injury measured by lipid peroxidation (TBARS) was significantly reduced (P=0.001) in the PDI747 group. Conclusions: With the inhibition of PDE4 with PDI747 we achieved normal gas exchange, no posttransplant lung edema, normal airway pressures, and a reduced free radical injury after 30 h of cold ischemi

Airway complications after lung transplantation: risk factors, prevention and outcome

PURPOSE: Anastomotic complications following lung transplantation (LuTx) have been described in up to 15% of patients. Challenging to treat, they are associated with high morbidity and a mortality rate of 2-5%. The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence of complications in a consecutive series of bronchial anastomosis after LuTx at our center and to delineate the potential risk factors. METHODS: Between 1992 and 2007, 441 bronchial anastomoses were performed in 235 patients. Indications for transplantation were cystic fibrosis (35.7%) emphysema (28.1%) pulmonary fibrosis (12.8%) and pulmonary hypertension (7.7%). There were 206 sequential bilateral and 28 single transplants including lobar engraftments in 20 cases. The donor bronchus was shortened to the plane of the lobar carina including the medial wall of the intermediate bronchus. Peribronchial tissue was left untouched. Anastomosis was carried out using a continuous absorbable running suture (PDS 4/0) at the membranous and interrupted sutures at the cartilaginous part. Six elective surveillance bronchoscopies were done monthly during the first half-year post-LuTx, with detailed assessment of the pre- and post-anastomotic airways. RESULTS: One-year survival since 2000 was 90.5%. In all 441 anastomoses performed, no significant dehiscence was observed. In one patient, a small fistula was detected and closed surgically on postoperative day five. Fungal membranes were found in 50% of the anastomoses at 1 month and in 14% at 6 months. Discrete narrowing of the anastomotic lumen without need for intervention was found in 4.9% of patients at 1 month and in 2.4% at 6 months. Age, cytomegalovirus status, induction therapy, immunosuppressive regimen, ischemic time, and ventilation time had no influence on bronchial healing. CONCLUSIONS: Clinically relevant bronchial anastomotic complications after LuTx can be avoided by use of a simple standardized surgical technique. Aggressive antibiotic and antifungal therapy might play an important supportive rol

Right-invariant Sobolev metrics of fractional order on the diffeomorphism group of the circle

In this paper, we study the geodesic flow of a right-invariant metric induced by a general Fourier multiplier on the diffeomorphism group of the circle and on some of its homogeneous spaces. This study covers in particular right-invariant metrics induced by Sobolev norms of fractional order. We show that, under a certain condition on the symbol of the inertia operator (which is satisfied for the fractional Sobolev norm $H^{s}$ for $s \ge 1/2$), the corresponding initial value problem is well-posed in the smooth category and that the Riemannian exponential map is a smooth local diffeomorphism. Paradigmatic examples of our general setting cover, besides all traditional Euler equations induced by a local inertia operator, the Constantin-Lax-Majda equation, and the Euler-Weil-Petersson equation.Comment: 40 pages. Corrected typos and improved redactio

Analytical solutions of the Bohr Hamiltonian with the Morse potential

Analytical solutions of the Bohr Hamiltonian are obtained in the $\gamma$-unstable case, as well as in an exactly separable rotational case with $\gamma\approx 0$, called the exactly separable Morse (ES-M) solution. Closed expressions for the energy eigenvalues are obtained through the Asymptotic Iteration Method (AIM), the effectiveness of which is demonstrated by solving the relevant Bohr equations for the Davidson and Kratzer potentials. All medium mass and heavy nuclei with known $\beta_1$ and $\gamma_1$ bandheads have been fitted by using the two-parameter $\gamma$-unstable solution for transitional nuclei and the three-parameter ES-M for rotational ones. It is shown that bandheads and energy spacings within the bands are well reproduced for more than 50 nuclei in each case.Comment: 33 pages with 2 Tables and 2 Figure

Genome-wide Association Study Identifies Two Susceptibility Loci for Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone malignancy of adolescents and young adults. In order to better understand the genetic etiology of osteosarcoma, we performed a multi-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) consisting of 941 cases and 3,291 cancer-free adult controls of European ancestry. Two loci achieved genome-wide significance: rs1906953 at 6p21.3, in the glutamate receptor metabotropic 4 [GRM4] gene (P = 8.1 ×10-9), and rs7591996 and rs10208273 in a gene desert on 2p25.2 (P = 1.0 ×10-8 and 2.9 ×10-7). These two susceptibility loci warrant further exploration to uncover the biological mechanisms underlying susceptibility to osteosarcoma

The Prevalence of Autistic Traits in a Sample of Young Adults Referred to a Generalized Mental Health Outpatient Clinic

Background/Objectives: The diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is undergoing significant revisions, impacting prevalence estimates in the general population. Moreover, the rise of a dimensional perspective on psychopathology has broadened our understanding of autism, recognizing that subthreshold autistic features extend throughout the general population. However, there remains a limited understanding of the prevalence of ASD traits in individuals with psychiatric disorders, particularly in young adults, who are at an age where several mental health conditions emerge. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of ASD traits in a sample of young adults (18–24 years old) attending a generalized mental health outpatient clinic. Methods: A total of 259 young adult patients completed the self-report screening questionnaires Autism Quotient (AQ) and Ritvo Autism and Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised (RAADS-R). Results: A total of 16.2% of our sample scored above the cut-off in both scales; this percentage decreased to 13.13% when restricting the RAADS-R cut-off to &gt;119, as suggested for clinical samples. The association with sociodemographic features is discussed. Conclusions: We argue that screening for autistic traits should be integrated into the assessment of young adults presenting with nonspecific psychiatric symptoms or psychological distress. Although there is ongoing debate over the use of self-report screening tools, a positive result on both the AQ and RAADS-R should prompt clinicians to pursue a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation using structured or semi-structured interviews

Lung transplantation from donation after brain death (DBD) donors on extra-corporeal support : A case series from the ESTS Lung Transplantation Working Group

In recent years, the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support is increasing in critically ill patients. Lung recovery from donors on ECMO may counteract the donor pool shortage. However, this kind of donor remains a major challenge when assessing organ donor quality, namely the lung; also, in this setting pulmonary grafts could suffer from flow diversion. There is very little evidence in literature about outcomes in case of donors supported by ECMO. Aim of this study was to analyse data on procurement, transplantation and outcomes in lung recipients from donors after neurological determination of death (DBD) on ECMO