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Inhomogeneous spacetimes in Weyl integrable geometry with matter source
We investigate the existence of inhomogeneous exact solutions in Weyl
Integrable theory with a matter source. In particular, we consider the
existence of a dust fluid source while for the underlying geometry we assume a
line element which belongs to the family of silent universes. We solve
explicitly the field equations and we find the Szekeres spacetimes in Weyl
Integrable theory. We show that only the isotropic family can describe
inhomogeneous solutions where the LTB spacetimes are included. A detailed
analysis of the dynamics of the field equations is given where the past and
future attractors are determined. It is interesting that the Kasner spacetimes
can be seen as past attractors for the gravitation models, while the unique
future attractor describes the Milne universe similar with the behaviour of the
gravitational model in the case of General Relativity
Effects of food type, feeding frequency, and temperature on juvenile survival and growth of Marisa cornuarietis (Mollusca: Gastropoda)
The present experiments are part of a larger study designed to investigate the influence of husbandry parameters on the life history of the ramshorn snail, Marisa cornuarietis, in order to identify suitable husbandry conditions for maintaining multi-generation populations in the laboratory for use in ecotoxicological testing. In this paper we focus on the effects of a combination of food types and feeding frequencies (i.e., the frequency with which the snails were offered food) on juvenile growth and survival at different temperatures. Offspring produced in the laboratory by wild specimens of M. cornuarietis, from Puerto Rico, were used to test the effects of three types of food (lettuce, alginate with fish food, alginate with snail mix) fed at three frequencies (given ad libitum on 4/4, 2/4, or 1/4 d) on juvenile survival and growth. The 4-d feeding regimens were repeated four times, giving a total of 16 d for the experiments. The experiments were conducted at two temperatures (22° and 25°C) under a 12 h light:12 h dark photoperiod. Juvenile growth rates increased with increasing feeding frequency for all food types. The most rapid growth rates occurred in the high-frequency lettuce treatments and the slowest growth rates in the low-frequency lettuce and alginate with snail mix treatments. Juvenile snails grew faster at 25° than at 22°C, and mortality was about twice as high at the lower temperature. Growth rates were used to provide a rough estimate of time to maturity, which was determined to take about twice as long at 22° than at 25°C. The results showed that lettuce is the best food if supplied in abundance, but effects on growth are very dependent on feeding frequency and temperature. We conclude that 25°C is a more appropriate temperature for maintaining populations than 22°C, that lettuce provides a suitable food source, and that food should be supplied continuously for husbandry and toxicity testing of populations of M. cornuarietis
An adaptive prefix-assignment technique for symmetry reduction
This paper presents a technique for symmetry reduction that adaptively
assigns a prefix of variables in a system of constraints so that the generated
prefix-assignments are pairwise nonisomorphic under the action of the symmetry
group of the system. The technique is based on McKay's canonical extension
framework [J.~Algorithms 26 (1998), no.~2, 306--324]. Among key features of the
technique are (i) adaptability---the prefix sequence can be user-prescribed and
truncated for compatibility with the group of symmetries; (ii)
parallelizability---prefix-assignments can be processed in parallel
independently of each other; (iii) versatility---the method is applicable
whenever the group of symmetries can be concisely represented as the
automorphism group of a vertex-colored graph; and (iv) implementability---the
method can be implemented relying on a canonical labeling map for
vertex-colored graphs as the only nontrivial subroutine. To demonstrate the
practical applicability of our technique, we have prepared an experimental
open-source implementation of the technique and carry out a set of experiments
that demonstrate ability to reduce symmetry on hard instances. Furthermore, we
demonstrate that the implementation effectively parallelizes to compute
clusters with multiple nodes via a message-passing interface.Comment: Updated manuscript submitted for revie
Speed and Accuracy of Static Image Discrimination by Rats
When discriminating dynamic noisy sensory signals, human and primate subjects
achieve higher accuracy when they take more time to decide, an effect
attributed to accumulation of evidence over time to overcome neural noise. We
measured the speed and accuracy of twelve freely behaving rats discriminating
static, high contrast photographs of real-world objects for water reward in a
self-paced task. Response latency was longer in correct trials compared to
error trials. Discrimination accuracy increased with response latency over the
range of 500-1200ms. We used morphs between previously learned images to vary
the image similarity parametrically, and thereby modulate task difficulty from
ceiling to chance. Over this range we find that rats take more time before
responding in trials with more similar stimuli. We conclude that rats'
perceptual decisions improve with time even in the absence of temporal
information in the stimulus, and that rats modulate speed in response to
discrimination difficulty to balance speed and accuracy
Do Interventions Designed to Support Shared Decision-Making Reduce Health Inequalities? : A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Copyright: © 2014 Durand et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Background: Increasing patient engagement in healthcare has become a health policy priority. However, there has been concern that promoting supported shared decision-making could increase health inequalities. Objective: To evaluate the impact of SDM interventions on disadvantaged groups and health inequalities. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and observational studies.Peer reviewe
How Mistimed and Unwanted Pregnancies Affect Timing of Antenatal Care Initiation in three Districts in Tanzania
Early antenatal care (ANC) initiation is a doorway to early detection and management of potential complications associated with pregnancy. Although the literature reports various factors associated with ANC initiation such as parity and age, pregnancy intentions is yet to be recognized as a possible predictor of timing of ANC initiation. Data originate from a cross-sectional household survey on health behaviour and service utilization patterns. The survey was conducted in 2011 in Rufiji, Kilombero and Ulanga districts in Tanzania on 910 women of reproductive age who had given birth in the past two years. ANC initiation was considered to be early only if it occurred in the first trimester of pregnancy gestation. A recently completed pregnancy was defined as mistimed if a woman wanted it later, and if she did not want it at all the pregnancy was termed as unwanted. Chisquare was used to test for associations and multinomial logistic regression was conducted to examine how mistimed and unwanted pregnancies affect timing of ANC initiation. Although 49.3% of the women intended to become pregnant, 50.7% (34.9% mistimed and 15.8% unwanted) became pregnant unintentionally. While ANC initiation in the 1st trimester was 18.5%, so was 71.7% and 9.9% in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that ANC initiation in the 2nd trimester was 1.68 (95% CI 1.10‒2.58) and 2.00 (95% CI 1.05‒3.82) times more likely for mistimed and unwanted pregnancies respectively compared to intended pregnancies. These estimates rose to 2.81 (95% CI 1.41‒5.59) and 4.10 (95% CI 1.68‒10.00) respectively in the 3rd trimester. We controlled for gravidity, age, education, household wealth, marital status, religion, district of residence and travel time to a health facility. Late ANC initiation is a significant maternal and child health consequence of mistimed and unwanted pregnancies in Tanzania. Women should be empowered to delay or avoid pregnancies whenever they need to do so. Appropriate counseling to women, especially those who happen to conceive unintentionally is needed to minimize the possibility of delaying ANC initiation.\u
Nanophotonic quantum phase switch with a single atom
By analogy to transistors in classical electronic circuits, quantum optical switches are important elements of quantum circuits and quantum networks1, 2, 3. Operated at the fundamental limit where a single quantum of light or matter controls another field or material system4, such a switch may enable applications such as long-distance quantum communication5, distributed quantum information processing2 and metrology6, and the exploration of novel quantum states of matter7. Here, by strongly coupling a photon to a single atom trapped in the near field of a nanoscale photonic crystal cavity, we realize a system in which a single atom switches the phase of a photon and a single photon modifies the atom’s phase. We experimentally demonstrate an atom-induced optical phase shift8 that is nonlinear at the two-photon level9, a photon number router that separates individual photons and photon pairs into different output modes10, and a single-photon switch in which a single ‘gate’ photon controls the propagation of a subsequent probe field11, 12. These techniques pave the way to integrated quantum nanophotonic networks involving multiple atomic nodes connected by guided light.Physic
In vitro and in vivo antileishmanial efficacy of a combination therapy of diminazene and artesunate against Leishmania donovani in BALB /c mice
The in vitro and in vivo activity of diminazene (Dim), artesunate (Art) and
combination of Dim and Art (Dim-Art) against Leishmania donovani was compared
to reference drug; amphotericin B. IC50 of Dim-Art was found to be g/mL while those of Dim and Art were g/mL and
g/mL respectively. The IC50 for Amphot B was g/mL against stationary-phase promastigotes. In vivo evaluation in the L.
donovani BALB/c mice model indicated that treatments with the combined drug
therapy at doses of 12.5 mg/kg for 28 consecutive days significantly () reduced parasite burden in the spleen as compared to the single drug
treatments given at the same dosages. Although parasite burden was slightly
lower () in the Amphot B group than in the Dim-Art treatment group,
the present study demonstrates the positive advantage and the potential use of
the combined therapy of Dim-Art over the constituent drugs, Dim or Art when
used alone. Further evaluation is recommended to determine the most efficacious
combination ratio of the two compounds.Comment: 4 Pages, 3 Figure
Can We Really Prevent Suicide?
Every year, suicide is among the top 20 leading causes of death globally for all ages. Unfortunately, suicide is difficult to prevent, in large part because the prevalence of risk factors is high among the general population. In this review, clinical and psychological risk factors are examined and methods for suicide prevention are discussed. Prevention strategies found to be effective in suicide prevention
include means restriction, responsible media coverage, and general public education, as well identification methods such as screening, gatekeeper training, and primary care physician education. Although the treatment for preventing suicide is difficult, follow-up that includes pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, or both may be useful. However, prevention methods cannot be restricted to the individual. Community, social, and policy interventions will also be essentia
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