2,324 research outputs found
Structure, bonding and magnetism in cobalt clusters
The structural, electronic and magnetic properties of Co clusters
(20) have been investigated using density functional theory within the
pseudopotential plane wave method. An unusual hexagonal growth pattern has been
observed in the intermediate size range, 20. The cobalt atoms are
ferromagnetically ordered and the calculated magnetic moments are found to be
higher than that of corresponding hcp bulk value, which are in good agreement
with the recent Stern-Gerlach experiments. The average coordination number is
found to dominate over the average bond length to determine the effective
hybridization and consequently the cluster magnetic moment.Comment: 12 pages and 9 figure
Declining incidence of esophageal cancer in the Turkmen Plain, eastern part of the Caspian Littoral of Iran: A retrospective cancer surveillance
Background: Previous studies have shown that upper gastrointestinal cancers are the most common cancers in Caspian Littoral, and rate of esophageal cancer (EC) in Iranian Turkmens residing in the Eastern part of littoral are among the highest in the world. Our aim was to reassess the rate 30 years later and following socioeconomic changes in the region. Methods: A comprehensive retrospective search was undertaken to find all new cancer cases during the 1996-2000 period. Diagnosis of cancer was based on histopathological reports in 68.2, clinical and/or radiological evidence in 29.7 and death certificate only (DCO) in 2.1 of the cases. Results: A total of 5143 new cancer cases were registered of whom 3063 (59.6) were males. The median (IQR) age was 60 (44-69) years. Age-standardized rates (ASR) for all cancers in males and females were 134.7 and 104.5 per 100,000, respectively. Based on ASR, the top five common cancers in males (excluding skin cancer) were cancers of esophagus (43.4), stomach (27.8), colorectal (10.7), bladder (7.8) and oral cavity (6.3), while in females cancer of esophagus (36.3) was followed by cancers of breast (15.7), stomach (8.3) colorectal (6.6) and cervix (3.6). Conclusion: We conclude that EC incidence rate has decreased to less than half the rate reported 30 years ago, while the incidence rates of colorectal and breast cancers have increased significantly. © 2006 International Society for Preventive Oncology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Determinants of male participation in reproductive healthcare services: a cross-sectional study
Background
The role of male’s participation in reproductive healthcare is now well-recognized. The present study investigated the role of men in some selected reproductive health issues, characterizing their involvement, including factors influencing their participation in reproductive healthcare services.
Methods
This study was conducted in the working areas of urban and rural implemented by NGOs. The sample-size was determined scientifically. The systematic sampling procedure was used for selecting the sample. The study included 615 men aged 25-45 years. Bivariate analysis was performed between male’s involvement as the dependent variable with several independent variables. Logistic regression analysis was applied to assess the effects of risk factors on the participation of men in reproductive health care services.
Results
The mean age of the respondents was little over 34 years while their mean years of schooling was 3.7, and their mean monthly income was about Tk 3,400 (US$ 1 = Tk 70) at the time of the study. Rickshaw-pulling and driving was the main occupation of the respondents from the urban while farming were main occupation in the rural area respectively. About two-thirds of the respondents discussed reproductive health issues with their wives and accompanied them to healthcare facilities. The current contraceptive-use rate was 63% among the men who attended the evening clinics. Results of bivariate analysis showed a significant association with education, occupation, income, access to media, and number of living children. Results of logistic regression analysis showed that secondary to higher education level, number of living children, paid employment status, long marital duration, and access to media were important correlates of males’ involvement in reproductive healthcare services.
Conclusions
The results imply that a greater integration of reproductive healthcare matters with the Millennium Development Goals and increasing perception of men through enrollment in various components of reproductive activities will produce synergistic effects
The Role of in Two-pion Exchange Three-nucleon Potential
In this paper we have studied the two-pion exchange three-nucleon potential
using an approximate chiral symmetry of the
strong interaction. The off-shell pion-nucleon scattering amplitudes obtained
from the Weinberg Lagangian are supplemented with contributions from the
well-known -term and the exchange. It is the role of the
-resonance in , which we have investigated in detail in the
framework of the Lagrangian field theory. The -contribution is quite
appreciable and, more significantly, it is dependent on a parameter Z which is
arbitrary but has the empirical bounds . We find that the
-contribution to the important parameters of the depends
on the choice of a value for Z, although the correction to the binding energy
of triton is not expected to be very sensitive to the variation of Z within its
bounds.Comment: 14 pages, LaTe
Imperative Role of Dental Pulp Stem Cells in Regenerative Therapies: A Systematic Review
Stem cells are primitive cells that can differentiate and regenerate organs in different parts of the body such as heart, bones, muscles and nervous system. This has been a field of great clinical interest with immense possibilities of using the stem cells in regeneration of human organ those are damaged due to disease, developmental defects and accident. The knowledge of stem cell technology is increasing quickly in all medical specialties and in dental field too. Stem cells of dental origin appears to hold the key to various cell‑based therapies in regenerative medicine, but most avenues are in experimental stages and many procedures are undergoing standardization and validation. Long‑term preservation of SHED cells or DPSC is becoming a popular consideration, similar to the banking of umbilical cord blood. Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are the adult multipotent cells that reside in the cell rich zone of the dental pulp. The multipotent nature of these DPSCs may be utilized in both dental and medical applications. A systematic review of the literature was performed using various internet based search engines (PubMed, Medline Plus, Cochrane, Medknow, Ebsco, Science Direct, Hinari, WebMD, IndMed, Embase) using keywords like “dental pulp stem cells”, “regeneration”, “medical applications”, “tissue engineering”. DPSCs appears to be a promising innovation for the re‑growth of tissues however, long term clinical studies need to be carried out that could establish some authentic guidelines in this perspective.Keywords: Dental pulp stem cells, myocardial infarction, regenerative therapy, tissue engineerin
Nanoscale color control of TiO2 films with embedded Au nanoparticles
Article in pressWe demonstrate an efficient nanoscale control of the optical properties of TiO2 films by tuning the Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) in the embedded Au nanoparticles. The films were grown by reactive magnetron
sputtering. SPR tuning was achieved by different annealings, which affected the shape and size of the Au nanoparticles, and also the phase of the dielectric matrix. These changes promoted the variations on the
optical properties. As shown by the modeling of the effective dielectric function of the TiO2/Au in the SPR region, the variation of their optical absorption spectra correlates with morphological changes.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - PTDC/CTM/70037/2006
Allelopathic Potential of Rice Varieties against Spinach (Spinacia oleracea)
Two laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the allelopathic effects of rice varieties on spinach (Spinacia
aleracea L.). Fifteen rice varieties were included for evaluation. Two methods viz. Sandwich method and Relay seeding
method were used to observe the allelopathic effects of rice varieties on seed germination, mean germination time, shoot and
root length and dry matter production of spinach as a test crop. Average inhibition in spinach growth was calculated to
evaluate the allelopathic potential of the rice varieties. All the selected varieties of rice were more or less detrimental to studied
characters of spinach. WITA12 resulted in about 48% average percent inhibition of spinach growth. On the basis of average
percent inhibition rice varieties ranked in order of WITA12>Dular>WITA3>BR26>BRRI dhan42>BRRI dhan39>BRRI
dhan31>BRRI dhan44>BRRI dhan40>BR19>BRRI dhan43>BRRI dhan46>BRRI dhan47>BRRI dhan45>BRRI dhan28.
Both the evaluation methods were positively correlated in determining percent reduction in most of the parameters of spinach
due to allelopathic effects of rice
Optical properties of carbon nanofiber photonic crystals
Carbon nanofibers (CNF) are used as components of planar photonic crystals.
Square and rectangular lattices and random patterns of vertically aligned CNF
were fabricated and their properties studied using ellipsometry. We show that
detailed information such as symmetry directions and the band structure of
these novel materials can be extracted from considerations of the polarization
state in the specular beam. The refractive index of the individual nanofibers
was found to be n_CNF = 4.1.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Plastic pollution in the ocean
Plastic pollution in the ocean was first reported by scientists in the 1970s, yet in recent years it has drawn tremendous attention from the media, the public, and an increasing number of scientists spanning diverse fields, including polymer science, environmental engineering, ecology, toxicology, marine biology, and oceanography. In the oceans, the threat to marine life comes in various forms, such as overexploitation and harvesting, dumping of waste, pollution, alien species, land reclamation, dredging and global climate change. The extremely visible nature of much of this contamination is easy to convey in shocking images of piles of trash on coastlines, marine mammals entangled in fishing nets, or seabird bellies filled with bottle caps, cigarette lighters, and colourful shards of plastic. Even without these images, anyone who has visited a beach has certainly encountered discarded cigarette butts, broken beach toys left behind, or pieces of fishing gear or buoys that have washed ashore
Quantum Electrodynamics of the Helium Atom
Using singlet S states of the helium atom as an example, I describe precise
calculation of energy levels in few-electron atoms. In particular, a complete
set of effective operators is derived which generates O(m*alpha^6) relativistic
and radiative corrections to the Schr"odinger energy. Average values of these
operators can be calculated using a variational Schr"odinger wave function.Comment: 23 pages, revte
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