Upgraded demonstration vehicle task report

Vehicle/battery performance capabilities and interface problems that occurred when upgraded developmental batteries were integrated with upgraded versions of comercially available electric vehicles were investigated. Developmental batteries used included nickel zinc batteries, a nickel iron battery, and an improved lead acid battery. Testing of the electric vehicles and upgraded batteries was performed in the complete vehicle system environment to characterize performance and identify problems unique to the vehicle/battery system. Constant speed tests and driving schedule range tests were performed on a chassis dynamometer. The results from these tests of the upgraded batteries and vehicles were compared to performance capabilities for the same vehicles equipped with standard batteries

Measuring ligand efficacy at the mu-opioid receptor using a conformational biosensor.

The intrinsic efficacy of orthosteric ligands acting at G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) reflects their ability to stabilize active receptor states (R*) and is a major determinant of their physiological effects. Here, we present a direct way to quantify the efficacy of ligands by measuring the binding of a R*-specific biosensor to purified receptor employing interferometry. As an example, we use the mu-opioid receptor (µ-OR), a prototypic class A GPCR, and its active state sensor, nanobody-39 (Nb39). We demonstrate that ligands vary in their ability to recruit Nb39 to µ-OR and describe methadone, loperamide, and PZM21 as ligands that support unique R* conformation(s) of µ-OR. We further show that positive allosteric modulators of µ-OR promote formation of R* in addition to enhancing promotion by orthosteric agonists. Finally, we demonstrate that the technique can be utilized with heterotrimeric G protein. The method is cell-free, signal transduction-independent and is generally applicable to GPCRs

Topological Hysteresis in the Intermediate State of Type-I Superconductors

Magneto-optical imaging of thick stress-free lead samples reveals two distinct topologies of the intermediate state. Flux tubes are formed upon magnetic field penetration (closed topology) and laminar patterns appear upon flux exit (open topology). Two-dimensional distributions of shielding currents were obtained by applying an efficient inversion scheme. Quantitative analysis of the magnetic induction distribution and correlation with magnetization measurements indicate that observed topological differences between the two phases are responsible for experimentally observable magnetic hysteresis.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex

Computing a Knot Invariant as a Constraint Satisfaction Problem

We point out the connection between mathematical knot theory and spin glass/search problem. In particular, we present a statistical mechanical formulation of the problem of computing a knot invariant; p-colorability problem, which provides an algorithm to find the solution. The method also allows one to get some deeper insight into the structural complexity of knots, which is expected to be related with the landscape structure of constraint satisfaction problem.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to short note in Journal of Physical Society of Japa

Homotopy on spatial graphs and generalized Sato-Levine invariants

Edge-homotopy and vertex-homotopy are equivalence relations on spatial graphs which are generalizations of Milnor's link-homotopy. Fleming and the author introduced some edge (resp. vertex)-homotopy invariants of spatial graphs by applying the Sato-Levine invariant for the constituent 2-component algebraically split links. In this paper, we construct some new edge (resp. vertex)-homotopy invariants of spatial graphs without any restriction of linking numbers of the constituent 2-component links by applying the generalized Sato-Levine invariant.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figure

Epidemiology of and surveillance for postpartum infections.

We screened automated ambulatory medical records, hospital and emergency room claims, and pharmacy records of 2,826 health maintenance organization (HMO) members who gave birth over a 30-month period. Full-text ambulatory records were reviewed for the 30-day postpartum period to confirm infection status for a weighted sample of cases. The overall postpartum infection rate was 6.0%, with rates of 7.4% following cesarean section and 5.5% following vaginal delivery. Rehospitalization; cesarean delivery; antistaphylococcal antibiotics; diagnosis codes for mastitis, endometritis, and wound infection; and ambulatory blood or wound cultures were important predictors of infection. Use of automated information routinely collected by HMOs and insurers allows efficient identification of postpartum infections not detected by conventional surveillance

Acceptance and commitment therapy for older people with treatment-resistant generalised anxiety disorder: the FACTOID feasibility study

BACKGROUND: Generalised anxiety disorder, characterised by excessive anxiety and worry, is the most common anxiety disorder among older people. It is a condition that may persist for decades and is associated with numerous negative outcomes. Front-line treatments include pharmacological and psychological therapy, but many older people do not find these treatments effective. Guidance on managing treatment-resistant generalised anxiety disorder in older people is lacking. OBJECTIVES: To assess whether or not a study to examine the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy for older people with treatment-resistant generalised anxiety disorder is feasible, we developed an intervention based on acceptance and commitment therapy for this population, assessed its acceptability and feasibility in an uncontrolled feasibility study and clarified key study design parameters. DESIGN: Phase 1 involved qualitative interviews to develop and optimise an intervention as well as a survey of service users and clinicians to clarify usual care. Phase 2 involved an uncontrolled feasibility study and qualitative interviews to refine the intervention. SETTING: Participants were recruited from general practices, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services, Community Mental Health Teams and the community. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were people aged ≥ 65 years with treatment-resistant generalised anxiety disorder. INTERVENTION: Participants received up to 16 one-to-one sessions of acceptance and commitment therapy, adapted for older people with treatment-resistant generalised anxiety disorder, in addition to usual care. Sessions were delivered by therapists based in primary and secondary care services, either in the clinic or at participants’ homes. Sessions were weekly for the first 14 sessions and fortnightly thereafter. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The co-primary outcome measures for phase 2 were acceptability (session attendance and satisfaction with therapy) and feasibility (recruitment and retention). Secondary outcome measures included additional measures of acceptability and feasibility and self-reported measures of anxiety, worry, depression and psychological flexibility. Self-reported outcomes were assessed at 0 weeks (baseline) and 20 weeks (follow-up). Health economic outcomes included intervention and resource use costs and health-related quality of life. RESULTS: Fifteen older people with treatment-resistant generalised anxiety disorder participated in phase 1 and 37 participated in phase 2. A high level of feasibility was demonstrated by a recruitment rate of 93% and a retention rate of 81%. A high level of acceptability was found with respect to session attendance (70% of participants attended ≥ 10 sessions) and satisfaction with therapy was adequate (60% of participants scored ≥ 21 out of 30 points on the Satisfaction with Therapy subscale of the Satisfaction with Therapy and Therapist Scale-Revised, although 80% of participants had not finished receiving therapy at the time of rating). Secondary outcome measures and qualitative data further supported the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. Health economic data supported the feasibility of examining cost-effectiveness in a future randomised controlled trial. Although the study was not powered to examine clinical effectiveness, there was indicative evidence of improvements in scores for anxiety, depression and psychological flexibility. LIMITATIONS: Non-specific therapeutic factors were not controlled for, and recruitment in phase 2 was limited to London. CONCLUSIONS: There was evidence of high levels of feasibility and acceptability and indicative evidence of improvements in symptoms of anxiety, depression and psychological flexibility. The results of this study suggest that a larger-scale randomised controlled trial would be feasible to conduct and is warranted. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN12268776. FUNDING: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 25, No. 54. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information

Quiet Sun magnetic fields from simultaneous inversions of visible and infrared spectropolarimetric observations

We study the quiet Sun magnetic fields using spectropolarimetric observations of the infrared and visible Fe I lines at 6301.5, 6302.5, 15648 and 15653 A. Magnetic field strengths and filling factors are inferred by the simultaneous fit of the observed Stokes profiles under the MISMA hypothesis. The observations cover an intra-network region at the solar disk center. We analyze 2280 Stokes profiles whose polarization signals are above noise in the two spectral ranges, which correspond to 40% of the field of view. Most of these profiles can be reproduced only with a model atmosphere including 3 magnetic components with very different field strengths, which indicates the co-existence of kG and sub-kG fields in our 1.5" resolution elements. We measure an unsigned magnetic flux density of 9.6 G considering the full field of view. Half of the pixels present magnetic fields with mixed polarities in the resolution element. The fraction of mixed polarities increases as the polarization weakens. We compute the probability density function of finding each magnetic field strength. It has a significant contribution of kG field strengths, which concentrates most of the observed magnetic flux and energy. This kG contribution has a preferred magnetic polarity, while the polarity of the weak fields is balanced.Comment: 16 pages and 14 figure

Young people and political action: who is taking responsibility for positive social change?

A human rights perspective suggests that we are all responsible for ensuring the human rights of others, which in turn ensures that our own human rights are respected and protected. A convenience sample of 108 young people (41 males and 67 females) aged between 16 and 25 completed a questionnaire which asked about (a) levels of involvement in political activity and (b) sense of personal responsibility for ensuring that the human rights of marginalised groups (e.g. ethnic minorities, immigrants, lesbians and gay men) are protected. Findings showed that most respondents supported (in principle) the notion of human rights for all, but tended to engage in low key political activity (e.g. signing petitions; donating money or goods to charity) rather than actively working towards positive social change. Qualitative data collected in the questionnaire suggested three main barriers to respondents viewing themselves as agents of positive social change: (1) "It’s not my problem", (2) "It’s not my responsibility", and (3) a sense of helplessness. Suggestions for how political action might best be mobilised among young people are also discussed.</p