1,096 research outputs found
An investigation of physical properties of thermoplastic polyimides
Thermoplastic polyimides are a class of promising high temperature polymers for aerospace applications. NASA-developed LARC-TPI is a prominent member of this family of polymers. Its physical characteristics have been measured as a function of its curing schedule. The results and their possible interpretations are discussed
Impact of COVID-19 on mortality in coastal Kenya: a longitudinal open cohort study
The mortality impact of COVID-19 in Africa remains controversial because most countries lack vital registration. We analysed excess mortality in Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System, Kenya, using 9 years of baseline data. SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence studies suggest most adults here were infected before May 2022. During 5 waves of COVID-19 (April 2020-May 2022) an overall excess mortality of 4.8% (95% PI 1.2%, 9.4%) concealed a significant excess (11.6%, 95% PI 5.9%, 18.9%) among older adults ( ≥ 65 years) and a deficit among children aged 1–14 years (−7.7%, 95% PI −20.9%, 6.9%). The excess mortality rate for January 2020-December 2021, age-standardised to the Kenyan population, was 27.4/100,000 person-years (95% CI 23.2-31.6). In Coastal Kenya, excess mortality during the pandemic was substantially lower than in most high-income countries but the significant excess mortality in older adults emphasizes the value of achieving high vaccine coverage in this risk group
Integrated Atom Detector Based on Field Ionization near Carbon Nanotubes
We demonstrate an atom detector based on field ionization and subsequent ion
counting. We make use of field enhancement near tips of carbon nanotubes to
reach extreme electrostatic field values of up to 9x10^9 V/m, which ionize
ground state rubidium atoms. The detector is based on a carpet of multiwall
carbon nanotubes grown on a substrate and used for field ionization, and a
channel electron multiplier used for ion counting. We measure the field
enhancement at the tips of carbon nanotubes by field emission of electrons. We
demonstrate the operation of the field ionization detector by counting atoms
from a thermal beam of a rubidium dispenser source. By measuring the ionization
rate of rubidium as a function of the applied detector voltage we identify the
field ionization distance, which is below a few tens of nanometers in front of
nanotube tips. We deduce from the experimental data that field ionization of
rubidium near nanotube tips takes place on a time scale faster than 10^(-10)s.
This property is particularly interesting for the development of fast atom
detectors suitable for measuring correlations in ultracold quantum gases. We
also describe an application of the detector as partial pressure gauge.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
Using non-invasive transcranial stimulation to improve motor and cognitive function in Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting motor and cognitive abilities. There is no cure for PD, therefore identifying safe therapies to alleviate symptoms remains a priority. This meta-analysis quantified the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) to improve motor and cognitive dysfunction in PD. PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus, Library of Congress and Cochrane library were searched. 24 rTMS and 9 TES studies (n = 33) with a sham control group were included for analyses. The Physiotherapy Evidence Database and Cochrane Risk of Bias showed high quality (7.5/10) and low bias with included studies respectively. Our results showed an overall positive effect in favour of rTMS (SMD = 0.394, CI [0.106–0.683], p = 0.007) and TES (SMD = 0.611, CI [0.188–1.035], p = 0.005) compared with sham stimulation on motor function, with no significant differences detected between rTMS and TES (Q [1] = 0.69, p = 0.406). Neither rTMS nor TES improved cognition. No effects for stimulation parameters on motor or cognitive function were observed. To enhance the clinical utility of non-invasive brain stimulation (NBS), individual prescription of stimulation parameters based upon symptomology and resting excitability state should be a priority of future research
Bad Practice in Erosion Management: The Southern Sicily Case Study
This case study from Sicily illustrates a common sequence of events
where one unwise action was countered with another, which in turn created
additional problems. The situation arose through strong political interference and
ignorance (or lack of concern) regarding the environmental impacts of human
interventions on the shoreline and by the public perception that government has a
duty to protect private property. The poor design and location of ports and harbours
produced infilling problems and huge updrift accretion with concomitant downdrift
erosion. The human-induced coastal retreat was counteracted by the progressive
emplacement of breakwaters creating a “domino” effect. On many occasions
these were constructed to protect unplanned and illegal (in the sense that they do
not conform to planning regulations) beachfront summer houses. Without the
presence of these structures, there would have been no need for publicly funded
intervention.
Furthermore, only a narrow coastal belt close to the shoreline is used by
bathers on the wide beaches formed updrift of ports and harbours and in the lee
of breakwaters, most of the accreted beach being unused or partially occupied by
tourist developments. Thus beach users and municipalities acquired some benefits
from beach accretion at specific sites, the opposite being true in eroding areas
Complexity and integrability in 4D bi-rational maps with two invariants
In this letter we give fourth-order autonomous recurrence relations with two
invariants, whose degree growth is cubic or exponential. These examples
contradict the common belief that maps with sufficiently many invariants can
have at most quadratic growth. Cubic growth may reflect the existence of
non-elliptic fibrations of invariants, whereas we conjecture that the
exponentially growing cases lack the necessary conditions for the applicability
of the discrete Liouville theorem.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure
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