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Predictors of Stunting, Wasting and Underweight among Tanzanian Children Born to HIV-Infected Women.
Children born to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected women are susceptible to undernutrition, but modifiable risk factors and the time course of the development of undernutrition have not been well characterized. The objective of this study was to identify maternal, socioeconomic and child characteristics that are associated with stunting, wasting and underweight among Tanzanian children born to HIV-infected mothers, followed from 6 weeks of age for 24 months. Maternal and socioeconomic characteristics were recorded during pregnancy, data pertaining to the infant's birth were collected immediately after delivery, morbidity histories and anthropometric measurements were performed monthly. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards methods were used to assess the association between potential predictors and the time to first episode of stunting, wasting and underweight. A total of 2387 infants (54.0% male) were enrolled and followed for a median duration of 21.2 months. The respective prevalence of prematurity (<37 weeks) and low birth weight (<2500 g) was 15.2% and 7.0%; 11.3% of infants were HIV-positive at 6 weeks. Median time to first episode of stunting, wasting and underweight was 8.7, 7.2 and 7.0 months, respectively. Low maternal education, few household possessions, low infant birth weight, child HIV infection and male sex were all independent predictors of stunting, wasting and underweight. In addition, preterm infants were more likely to become wasted and underweight, whereas those with a low Apgar score at birth were more likely to become stunted. Interventions to improve maternal education and nutritional status, reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and increase birth weight may lower the risk of undernutrition among children born to HIV-infected women
Perspective on Reversible to Irreversible Transitions in Periodic Driven Many Body Systems and Future Directions For Classical and Quantum Systems
Reversible to irreversible (R-IR) transitions arise in numerous periodically
driven collectively interacting systems that, after a certain number of driving
cycles, organize into a reversible state where the particle trajectories
repeat, or remain irreversible with chaotic motion. R-IR transitions were first
systematically studied for periodically sheared dilute colloids, and appear in
a wide variety of both soft and hard matter systems, including amorphous
solids, crystals, vortices in type-II superconductors, and magnetic textures.
In some cases, the reversible transition is an absorbing phase transition with
a critical divergence in the organization time scale. R-IR systems can store
multiple memories and exhibit return point memory. We give an overview of R-IR
transitions including recent advances in the field, and discuss how the general
framework of R-IR transitions could be applied to a much broader class of
periodically driven nonequilibrium systems, including soft and hard condensed
matter systems, astrophysics, biological systems, and social systems. Some
likely candidate systems are commensurate-incommensurate states, systems
exhibiting hysteresis or avalanches, and nonequilibrium pattern forming states.
Periodic driving could be applied to hard condensed matter systems to see if
R-IR transitions occur in metal-insulator transitions, semiconductors, electron
glasses, electron nematics, cold atom systems, or Bose-Einstein condensates.
R-IR transitions could also be examined in dynamical systems where
synchronization or phase locking occurs. We discuss the use of complex periodic
driving such as changing drive directions or multiple frequencies as a method
to retain complex multiple memories. Finally, we describe features of classical
and quantum time crystals that could suggest the occurrence of R-IR transitions
in these systems.Comment: 25 pages, 27 figure
Theoretical Description of Resistive Behavior near a Quantum Vortex-Glass Transition
Resistive behaviors at nonzero temperatures (T > 0) reflecting a quantum
vortex-glass (VG) transition (the so-called field-tuned
superconductor-insulator transition at T=0) are studied based on a quantum
Ginzburg-Landau (GL) action for a s-wave pairing case containing microscopic
details. The ordinary dissipative dynamics of the pair-field is assumed on the
basis of a consistency between the fluctuation conductance terms excluded from
GL approach and an observed negative magnetoresistance. It is shown that the VG
contribution, G_{vg}(B=B_{vg}, T \to 0),to 2D fluctuation conductance at the VG
transition field B_{vg} depends on the strength of a repulsive-interaction
between electrons and takes a universal value only in the ordinary dirty limit
neglecting the electron-repulsion. Available resistivity data near B_{vg} are
discussed based on our results, and extensions to the cases of a d-wave pairing
and of 3D systems are briefly commented on.Comment: Explanation of data in strongly disordered case, as well as Fig.2 and
3, was renewed, and comments on recent publications were added. To appear in
J.Phys.Soc. Jp
Radiofrequency ablation of lung tumours
Pulmonary radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has become an increasingly adopted treatment option for primary and metastatic lung tumours. It is mainly performed in patients with unresectable or medically inoperable lung neoplasms. The immediate technical success rate is over 95%, with a low periprocedural mortality rate and 8–12% major complication rate. Pneumothorax represents the most frequent complication, but requires a chest tube drain in less than 10% of cases. Sustained complete tumour response has been reported in 85–90% of target lesions. Lesion size represents the most important risk factor for local recurrence. Survival data are still scarce, but initial results are very promising. In patients with stage I non-small-cell lung cancer, 1- and 2-year survival rates are within the ranges of 78–95% and 57–84%, respectively, with corresponding cancer-specific survival rates of 92% and 73%. In selected cases, the combination of RFA and radiotherapy could improve these results. In patients with colorectal lung metastasis, initial studies have reported survival data that compare favourably with the results of metastasectomy, with up to a 45% 5-year survival rate. Further studies are needed to understand the potential role of RFA as a palliative treatment in more advanced disease and the possible combination of RFA with other treatment options
Strong quantum fluctuation of vortices in the new superconductor
By using transport and magnetic measurement, the upper critical field
and the irreversibility line has been determined. A
big separation between and has been found showing the
existence of a quantum vortex liquid state induced by quantum fluctuation of
vortices in the new superconductor . Further investigation on the
magnetic relaxation shows that both the quantum tunneling and the thermally
activated flux creep weakly depends on temperature. But when the melting field
is approached, a drastic rising of the relaxation rate is observed.
This may imply that the melting of the vortex matter at a finite temperature is
also induced by the quantum fluctuation of vortices.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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