Particulate and aerosol detector

A device is described for counting aerosols and sorting them according to either size, mass or energy. The component parts are an accelerator, a capacitor sensor and a readout. The accelerator is a means for accelerating the aerosols toward the face of the capacitor sensor with such force that they partially penetrate the capacitor sensor, momentarily discharging it. The readout device is a means for counting the number of discharges of the capacitor sensor and measuring the amplitudes of these different discharges. The aerosols are accelerated by the accelerator in the direction of the metal layer with such force that they penetrate the metal and damage the oxide layers, thereby allowing the electrical charge on the capacitor to discharge through the damaged region. Each incident aerosol initiates a discharge path through the capacitor in such a fashion as to vaporize the conducting path. Once the discharge action is complete, the low resistance path no longer exists between the two capacitor plates and the capacitor is again able to accept a charge. The active area of the capacitor is reduced in size by the damaged area each time a discharge occurs

Families index theorem in supersymmetric WZW model and twisted K-theory: The SU(2) case

The construction of twisted K-theory classes on a compact Lie group is reviewed using the supersymmetric Wess-Zumino-Witten model on a cylinder. The Quillen superconnection is introduced for a family of supercharges parametrized by a compact Lie group and the Chern character is explicitly computed in the case of SU(2). For large euclidean time, the character form is localized on a D-brane.Comment: Version 2: Essentially simplified proof of the main result using a map from twisted K-theory to gerbes modulo the twisting gerbe; references added + minor correction

Hypoalbuminaemia predicts outcome in adult patients with congenital heart disease

Background In patients with acquired heart failure, hypoalbuminaemia is associated with increased risk of death. The prevalence of hypoproteinaemia and hypoalbuminaemia and their relation to outcome in adult patients with congenital heart disease (ACHD) remains, however, unknown. Methods Data on patients with ACHD who underwent blood testing in our centre within the last 14 years were collected. The relation between laboratory, clinical or demographic parameters at baseline and mortality was assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. Results A total of 2886 patients with ACHD were included. Mean age was 33.3 years (23.6–44.7) and 50.1% patients were men. Median plasma albumin concentration was 41.0 g/L (38.0–44.0), whereas hypoalbuminaemia (<35 g/L) was present in 13.9% of patients. The prevalence of hypoalbuminaemia was significantly higher in patients with great complexity ACHD (18.2%) compared with patients with moderate (11.3%) or simple ACHD lesions (12.1%, p<0.001). During a median follow-up of 5.7 years (3.3–9.6), 327 (11.3%) patients died. On univariable Cox regression analysis, hypoalbuminaemia was a strong predictor of outcome (HR 3.37, 95% CI 2.67 to 4.25, p<0.0001). On multivariable Cox regression, after adjusting for age, sodium and creatinine concentration, liver dysfunction, functional class and disease complexity, hypoalbuminaemia remained a significant predictor of death. Conclusions Hypoalbuminaemia is common in patients with ACHD and is associated with a threefold increased risk of risk of death. Hypoalbuminaemia, therefore, should be included in risk-stratification algorithms as it may assist management decisions and timing of interventions in the growing ACHD population

Methods for studying leadership

Leadership scholars have made many inroads in understanding leadership. However, making sense of thousands of studies and hundreds of books is a difficult endeavour, which is why many still incorrectly think that leadership is an elusive phenomenon. The Nature of Leadership is the first concise and integrated volume that addresses current issues in leadership research, including emerging topics such as gender, culture, and ethics. More than ever before, leadership is seen as critical for the proper functioning of societies and social institutions. Written by a team of leading experts, this book will provide compelling answers to the most vexing questions surrounding leadership

A new species of stalked crinoid (Echinodermata) of possible Late Silurian age from central Newfoundland

A new fossil locality within a sequence previously assigned to the Middle Ordovician Baie D'Espoir Group in south-central Newfoundland contains fragmented crinoid columnals and brachiopods. Distinctive, pentastellate crinoid columnals, similar to those assigned to the monobathrid camerate Hexacrinites Austin and Austin by Russian authors, are named Hexacrinites? Pentastellatus n. sp. Nodal(?) columnals of this species have a circular, depressed articular facet, with a conical to bowl-like crenularium, a depressed, circular areola, a raised perilumen and a short, slender axial canal of pentagonal section. The oldest Hexacrinites sensu stricto are Late Silurian, suggesting that the fossiliferous strata have been incorrectly assigned to the Ordovician. Cross-sections of brachiopods from the same locality include an example that resembles several Early Silurian to Late Devonian pentameroid genera including Brooksina Kirk, 1922. Correlation with Late Silurian, bivalve-bearing strata SO km to the northeast would indicate that a major unconformity may occur above the fossiliferous Early and Middle Ordovician strata and the Early Ordovician ophiolite complexes. R&#xC9;SUM&#xC9; Un nouvel emplacement de fossiles &#xE0; I'int&#xE9;rieur d'une sequence auparavant attribute au groupe de l'Ordovicien moyen de Baie d'Espoir dans le centre-sud de Terre-Neuve renferme des fragments de columnales et de brachiopodes de crinoldes. Des columnales de crinoldes penta&#xE9;toil&#xE9;es caract&#xE9;ristiqucs, semblables &#xE0; celles attribut&#xE9;es &#xE0; l’Hexacrinites Austin and Austin &#xE0; loges monobathrides par des auteurs russes, sont baptis&#xE9;es nouvelle esp&#xE8;ce pentastellatus d'Hexacrinites?. Les columnales nodales(?) de cette esp&#xE8;ce sont pourvues d'une facette articulaire renfonc&#xE9;e et circulaire munie d'un crenularium allant de conique &#xE0; bomb&#xE9;, d'une ar&#xE9;ole circulaire renfoncie, d'un p&#xE9;rilumen sur&#xE9;lev&#xE9; et d'un canal axial mince et court de section pentagonalc. Les plus anciens Hexacrinites, au sens strict, remontent au Silurien sup&#xE9;rieur, ce qui permet de supposer qu'on a incorrectement attribu&#xE9; la strate fossilif&#xE8;re &#xE0; l'Ordovicien. Des i&#xE9;chantillons repr&#xE9;sentatifs de brachiopodes du m&#xEA;me emplacement comprennent un exemple qui ressemble &#xE0; plusieurs genres de pentam&#xE9;roides datant du Silurien inf&#xE9;rieur au D&#xE9;vonien sup&#xE9;rieur, notamment le Brooksina Kirk, 1922. Leur corr&#xE9;lation avec des strates renfermant des bivalves du Silurien sup&#xE9;rieur &#xE0; 50 km au nord-cst signale qu'une discordance importantc pourrait se pr&#xE9;senter au-dessus des strates fossiliferes de l'Ordovicien inf&#xE9;rieur ou moyen de m&#xEA;me que des complexes d'ophiolites de l'Ordovicien inf&#xE9;rieur. [Traduit par la r&#xE9;daction