1,559 research outputs found
Finite-temperature ordering in a two-dimensional highly frustrated spin model
We investigate the classical counterpart of an effective Hamiltonian for a
strongly trimerized kagome lattice. Although the Hamiltonian only has a
discrete symmetry, the classical groundstate manifold has a continuous global
rotational symmetry. Two cases should be distinguished for the sign of the
exchange constant. In one case, the groundstate has a 120^\circ spin structure.
To determine the transition temperature, we perform Monte-Carlo simulations and
measure specific heat, the order parameter as well as the associated Binder
cumulant. In the other case, the classical groundstates are macroscopically
degenerate. A thermal order-by-disorder mechanism is predicted to select
another 120^\circ spin-structure. A finite but very small transition
temperature is detected by Monte-Carlo simulations using the exchange method.Comment: 11 pages including 9 figures, uses IOP style files; to appear in J.
Phys.: Condensed Matter (proceedings of HFM2006
Acute Malnutrition and Under-5 Mortality, Northeastern Part of India.
We assessed the prevalence of childhood acute malnutrition and under-five mortality rate (U5MR) in Darbhanga district, India, using a two-stage 49-cluster household survey. A total of 1379 households comprising 8473 people were interviewed. During a 90-day recall period, U5MR was 0.5 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.2-1.4] per 10 000 per day. The prevalence of global acute malnutrition among 1405 children aged 6-59 months was 15.4% (NCHS) and 19.4% (2006 WHO references). This survey suggests that in Darbhanga district, the population is in a borderline food crisis with few food resources. Appropriate strategies should be developed to improve the overall nutritional and health status of children
Risk Factors for Nosocomial Bacterremia Due to Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus
In a prospective surveillance study (February 1990–December 1991) performed at a 1000-bed teaching hospital to identify risk factors for nosocomial methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia, 309 patients were found to be colonized (n=103; 33 %) or infected (n=206; 67 %) by MRSA. Sixty-three of them developed bacteremia. Compared with 114 patients who had nosocomial bacteremia caused by methicillin-sensitiveStaphylococcus aureus during the same period of time, MRSA bacteremic patients had more severe underlying diseases (p<0.01), were more often in intensive care units (p<0.01) and had received prior antibiotic therapy more frequently (p<0.01). To further identify risk factors for MRSA bacteremia, univariate and multivariate analyses of this series of 309 patients were performed using the occurrence of MRSA bacteremia as the dependent variable. Among 14 variables analyzed, intravascular catheterization, defined as one or more intravascular catheters in place for more than 48 h, was the only variable selected by a logistic regression model as an independent risk factor (OR=2.7, CI=1.1–6.6). The results of this study reinforce the concept that recent antibiotic therapy may predispose patients to MRSA infection and suggest that among patients colonized or infected by MRSA, those with intravascular catheters are at high risk of developing MRSA bacteremia
High-Order Coupled Cluster Method Study of Frustrated and Unfrustrated Quantum Magnets in External Magnetic Fields
We apply the coupled cluster method (CCM) in order to study the ground-state
properties of the (unfrustrated) square-lattice and (frustrated)
triangular-lattice spin-half Heisenberg antiferromagnets in the presence of
external magnetic fields. Here we determine and solve the basic CCM equations
by using the localised approximation scheme commonly referred to as the
`LSUB' approximation scheme and we carry out high-order calculations by
using intensive computational methods. We calculate the ground-state energy,
the uniform susceptibility, the total (lattice) magnetisation and the local
(sublattice) magnetisations as a function of the magnetic field strength. Our
results for the lattice magnetisation of the square-lattice case compare well
to those results of QMC for all values of the applied external magnetic field.
We find a value for magnetic susceptibility of for the
square-lattice antiferromagnet, which is also in agreement with the results of
other approximate methods (e.g., via QMC). Our estimate for the
range of the extent of the () magnetisation plateau for the
triangular-lattice antiferromagnet is , which is in good
agreement with results of spin-wave theory () and
exact diagonalisations (). The CCM value for the
in-plane magnetic susceptibility per site is , which is below the
result of the spin-wave theory (evaluated to order 1/S) of .Comment: 30 pages, 13 figures, 1 Tabl
The yeast Candida albicans has a clonal mode of reproduction in a population of infected human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients
To ascertain the population structure of Candida albicans, we have carried out a multilocus enzyme electrophoresis study based on the analysis of 21 gene loci. We have thus characterized 55 strains isolated one each from 55 human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients. There is considerable polymorphism among the strains. A population-genetic analysis indicates that the two fundamental consequences of sexual reproduction (i.e., segregation and recombination) are apparently absent in this population of C. albicans. The population structure of C. albicans appears to be clonal, a state of affairs that has important medical and biological consequences
Nosocomial Staphylococcus Aureus Bacterimia among Nasal Carriers of Methicillin- Resistant and Methicillin-Susceptible Strains
Objectives
To determine the relevance of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus, either methicillin-sensitive (MSSA) or methicillinresistant (MRSA), as a risk factor for the development of nosocomial S aureus bacteremia during an MRSA outbreak. patients and methods: In this prospective cohort study, 488 patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) during a 1-year period were screened with nasal swabs within 48 hours of admission and weekly thereafter in order to identify nasal S aureus carriage. Nasal staphylococcal carriers were observed until development of S aureus bacteremia, ICU discharge, or death.
Results
One hundred forty-seven (30.1%) of 488 patients were nasal S aureus carriers; 84 patients (17.2%) harbored methicillin-sensitive S aureus; and 63 patients (12.9%) methicillinresistant S aureus. Nosocomial S aureus bacteremia was diagnosed in 38 (7.7%) of 488 patients. Rates of bacteremia were 24 (38%) of the MRSA carriers, eight (9.5%) of the MSSA carriers, and six (1.7%) of noncarriers. After adjusting for other predictors of bacteremia by means of a Cox proportional hazard regression model, the relative risk for S aureus bacteremia was 3.9 (95% confidence interval, 1.6–9.8; P = 0.002) for MRSA carriers compared with MSSA carriers.
Conclusions
Among ICU patients, nasal carriers of S aureus are at higher risk for S aureus bacteremia than are noncarriers; in the setting of an MRSA outbreak, colonization by methicillin-resistant strains represents a greater risk than does colonization by MSSA and strongly predicts the occurrence of MRSA bacteremia
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Non-Abelian Bosonization and Haldane's Conjecture
We study the long wavelength limit of a spin S Heisenberg antiferromagnetic
chain. The fermionic Lagrangian obtained corresponds to a perturbed level 2S
SU(2) Wess-Zumino-Witten model. This effective theory is then mapped into a
compact U(1) boson interacting with Z_{2S} parafermions. The analysis of this
effective theory allows us to show that when S is an integer there is a mass
gap to all excitations, whereas this gap vanishes in the half-odd-integer spin
case. This gives a field theory treatment of the so-called Haldane's conjecture
for arbitrary values of the spin S.Comment: 9 pages REVTeX, no figure
Magnetization Curves of Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg Spin-1/2 Ladders
Magnetization processes of spin-1/2 Heisenberg ladders are studied using
strong-coupling expansions, numerical diagonalization of finite systems and a
bosonization approach. We find that the magnetization exhibits plateaux as a
function of the applied field at certain rational fractions of the saturation
value. Our main focus are ladders with 3 legs where plateaux with magnetization
one third of the saturation value are shown to exist.Comment: 5 pages REVTeX, 4 PostScript figures included using psfig.sty; this
is the final version to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
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