Temperature Dependence of Photoelectrical Properties of Single Selenium Nanowires

Influence of temperature on photoconductivity of single Se nanowires has been studied. Time response of photocurrent at both room temperature and low temperature suggests that the trap states play an important role in the photoelectrical process. Further investigations about light intensity dependence on photocurrent at different temperatures reveal that the trap states significantly affect the carrier generation and recombination. This work may be valuable for improving the device optoelectronic performances by understanding the photoelectrical properties

Managing Injuries of the Neck Trial (MINT) : design of a randomised controlled trial of treatments for whiplash associated disorders

Background: A substantial proportion of patients with whiplash injuries develop chronic symptoms. However, the best treatment of acute injuries to prevent long-term problems is uncertain. A stepped care treatment pathway has been proposed, in which patients are given advice and education at their initial visit to the emergency department (ED), followed by review at three weeks and physiotherapy for those with persisting symptoms. MINT is a two-stage randomised controlled trial to evaluate two components of such a pathway: 1. use of The Whiplash Book versus usual advice when patients first attend the emergency department; 2. referral to physiotherapy versus reinforcement of advice for patients with continuing symptoms at three weeks. Methods: Evaluation of the Whiplash Book versus usual advice uses a cluster randomised design in emergency departments of eight NHS Trusts. Eligible patients are identified by clinicians in participating emergency departments and are sent a study questionnaire within a week of their ED attendance. Three thousand participants will be included. Patients with persisting symptoms three weeks after their ED attendance are eligible to join an individually randomised study of physiotherapy versus reinforcement of the advice given in ED. Six hundred participants will be randomised. Follow-up is at 4, 8 and 12 months after their ED attendance. Primary outcome is the Neck Disability Index (NDI), and secondary outcomes include quality of life and time to return to work and normal activities. An economic evaluation is being carried out. Conclusion: This paper describes the protocol and operational aspects of a complex intervention trial based in NHS emergency and physiotherapy departments, evaluating two components of a stepped-care approach to the treatment of whiplash injuries. The trial uses two randomisations, with the first stage being cluster randomised and the second individually randomised

Intersecting Flavor Branes

We consider an instance of the AdS/CFT duality where the bulk theory contains an open string tachyon, and study the instability from the viewpoint of the boundary field theory. We focus on the specific example of the AdS_5 X S^5 background with two probe D7 branes intersecting at general angles. For generic angles supersymmetry is completely broken and there is an open string tachyon between the branes. The field theory action for this system is obtained by coupling to N =4 super Yang-Mills two N =2 hyper multiplets in the fundamental representation of the SU(N) gauge group, but with different choices of embedding of the two N=2 subalgebras into N=4. On the field theory side we find a one-loop Coleman-Weinberg instability in the effective potential for the fundamental scalars. We identify a mesonic operator as the dual of the open string tachyon. By AdS/CFT, we predict the tachyon mass for small 't Hooft coupling (large bulk curvature) and confirm that it violates the AdS stability bound.Comment: 36 page

On form factors in N=4 sym

In this paper we study the form factors for the half-BPS operators $\mathcal{O}^{(n)}_I$ and the $\mathcal{N}=4$ stress tensor supermultiplet current $W^{AB}$ up to the second order of perturbation theory and for the Konishi operator $\mathcal{K}$ at first order of perturbation theory in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM theory at weak coupling. For all the objects we observe the exponentiation of the IR divergences with two anomalous dimensions: the cusp anomalous dimension and the collinear anomalous dimension. For the IR finite parts we obtain a similar situation as for the gluon scattering amplitudes, namely, apart from the case of $W^{AB}$ and $\mathcal{K}$ the finite part has some remainder function which we calculate up to the second order. It involves the generalized Goncharov polylogarithms of several variables. All the answers are expressed through the integrals related to the dual conformal invariant ones which might be a signal of integrable structure standing behind the form factors.Comment: 35 pages, 7 figures, LATEX2

Minimally helicity violating, maximally simple scalar amplitudes in N=4 SYM

In planar N=4 SYM we study a particular class of helicity preserving amplitudes. These are scalar amplitudes whose flavor configuration is chosen in such a way that only a limited number of diagrams is allowed, which exhibit an iterative structure. For such amplitudes we evaluate the tree level and one-loop contributions, providing a general formula valid for any number of particles. The ratio between the one-loop and tree level results is a simple combination of dual conformally invariant box functions with at most two massive legs. Along with the MHV and NMHV series, this constitutes the third known infinite sequence of one-loop amplitudes in N=4 SYM.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures, published versio

Cosmic Ray Anomalies from the MSSM?

The recent positron excess in cosmic rays (CR) observed by the PAMELA satellite may be a signal for dark matter (DM) annihilation. When these measurements are combined with those from FERMI on the total ($e^++e^-$) flux and from PAMELA itself on the $\bar p/p$ ratio, these and other results are difficult to reconcile with traditional models of DM, including the conventional mSUGRA version of Supersymmetry even if boosts as large as $10^{3-4}$ are allowed. In this paper, we combine the results of a previously obtained scan over a more general 19-parameter subspace of the MSSM with a corresponding scan over astrophysical parameters that describe the propagation of CR. We then ascertain whether or not a good fit to this CR data can be obtained with relatively small boost factors while simultaneously satisfying the additional constraints arising from gamma ray data. We find that a specific subclass of MSSM models where the LSP is mostly pure bino and annihilates almost exclusively into $\tau$ pairs comes very close to satisfying these requirements. The lightest $\tilde \tau$ in this set of models is found to be relatively close in mass to the LSP and is in some cases the nLSP. These models lead to a significant improvement in the overall fit to the data by an amount $\Delta \chi^2 \sim 1/$dof in comparison to the best fit without Supersymmetry while employing boosts $\sim 100$. The implications of these models for future experiments are discussed.Comment: 57 pages, 31 figures, references adde

A point mutation in cpsE renders Streptococcus pneumoniae nonencapsulated and enhances its growth, adherence and competence.

BACKGROUND: The polysaccharide capsule is a major virulence factor of the important human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. However, S. pneumoniae strains lacking capsule do occur. RESULTS: Here, we report a nasopharyngeal isolate of Streptococcus pneumoniae composed of a mixture of two phenotypes; one encapsulated (serotype 18C) and the other nonencapsulated, determined by serotyping, electron microscopy and fluorescence isothiocyanate dextran exclusion assay.By whole genome sequencing, we demonstrated that the phenotypes differ by a single nucleotide base pair in capsular gene cpsE (C to G change at gene position 1135) predicted to result in amino acid change from arginine to glycine at position 379, located in the cytoplasmic, enzymatically active, region of this transmembrane protein. This SNP is responsible for loss of capsule production as the phenotype is transferred with the capsule operon. The nonencapsulated variant is superior in growth in vitro and is also 117-fold more adherent to and more invasive into Detroit 562 human epithelial cells than the encapsulated variant.Expression of six competence pathway genes and one competence-associated gene was 11 to 34-fold higher in the nonencapsulated variant than the encapsulated and transformation frequency was 3.7-fold greater. CONCLUSIONS: We identified a new single point mutation in capsule gene cpsE of a clinical S. pneumoniae serotype 18C isolate sufficient to cause loss of capsule expression resulting in the co-existence of the encapsulated and nonencapsulated phenotype. The mutation caused phenotypic changes in growth, adherence to epithelial cells and transformability. Mutation in capsule gene cpsE may be a way for S. pneumoniae to lose its capsule and increase its colonization potential

Cognitive and memory training in adults at risk of dementia: A Systematic Review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Effective non-pharmacological cognitive interventions to prevent Alzheimer's dementia or slow its progression are an urgent international priority. The aim of this review was to evaluate cognitive training trials in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and evaluate the efficacy of training in memory strategies or cognitive exercises to determine if cognitive training could benefit individuals at risk of developing dementia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic review of eligible trials was undertaken, followed by effect size analysis. Cognitive training was differentiated from other cognitive interventions not meeting generally accepted definitions, and included both cognitive exercises and memory strategies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ten studies enrolling a total of 305 subjects met criteria for cognitive training in MCI. Only five of the studies were randomized controlled trials. Meta-analysis was not considered appropriate due to the heterogeneity of interventions. Moderate effects on memory outcomes were identified in seven trials. Cognitive exercises (relative effect sizes ranged from .10 to 1.21) may lead to greater benefits than memory strategies (.88 to -1.18) on memory.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Previous conclusions of a lack of efficacy for cognitive training in MCI may have been influenced by not clearly defining the intervention. Our systematic review found that cognitive exercises can produce moderate-to-large beneficial effects on memory-related outcomes. However, the number of high quality RCTs remains low, and so further trials must be a priority. Several suggestions for the better design of cognitive training trials are provided.</p

Does the timed up and go test predict future falls among British community-dwelling older people? Prospective cohort study nested within a randomised controlled trial

Background Falling is common among older people. The Timed-Up-and-Go Test (TUG) is recommended as a screening tool for falls but its predictive value has been challenged. The objectives of this study were to examine the ability of TUG to predict future falls and to estimate the optimal cut-off point to identify those with higher risk for future falls. Methods This is a prospective cohort study nested within a randomised controlled trial including 259 British community-dwelling older people ≥65 years undergoing usual care. TUG was measured at baseline. Prospective diaries captured falls over 24 weeks. A Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis determined the optimal cut-off point to classify future falls risk with sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of TUG times. Logistic regression models examined future falls risk by TUG time. Results Sixty participants (23%) fell during the 24 weeks. The area under the curve was 0.58 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.49-0.67, p = 0.06), suggesting limited predictive value. The optimal cut-off point was 12.6 seconds and the corresponding sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 30.5%, 89.5%, 46.2%, and 81.4%. Logistic regression models showed each second increase in TUG time (adjusted for age, gender, comorbidities, medications and past history of two falls) was significantly associated with future falls (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.00-1.19, p = 0.05). A TUG time ≥12.6 seconds (adjusted OR = 3.94, 95% CI = 1.69-9.21, p = 0.002) was significantly associated with future falls, after the same adjustments. Conclusions TUG times were significantly and independently associated with future falls. The ability of TUG to predict future falls was limited but with high specificity and negative predictive value. TUG may be most useful in ruling in those with a high risk of falling rather than as a primary measure in the ascertainment of risk

Occupational Noise, Smoking, and a High Body Mass Index are Risk Factors for Age-related Hearing Impairment and Moderate Alcohol Consumption is Protective: A European Population-based Multicenter Study

A multicenter study was set up to elucidate the environmental and medical risk factors contributing to age-related hearing impairment (ARHI). Nine subsamples, collected by nine audiological centers across Europe, added up to a total of 4,083 subjects between 53 and 67 years. Audiometric data (pure-tone average [PTA]) were collected and the participants filled out a questionnaire on environmental risk factors and medical history. People with a history of disease that could affect hearing were excluded. PTAs were adjusted for age and sex and tested for association with exposure to risk factors. Noise exposure was associated with a significant loss of hearing at high sound frequencies (>1 kHz). Smoking significantly increased high-frequency hearing loss, and the effect was dose-dependent. The effect of smoking remained significant when accounting for cardiovascular disease events. Taller people had better hearing on average with a more pronounced effect at low sound frequencies (<2 kHz). A high body mass index (BMI) correlated with hearing loss across the frequency range tested. Moderate alcohol consumption was inversely correlated with hearing loss. Significant associations were found in the high as well as in the low frequencies. The results suggest that a healthy lifestyle can protect against age-related hearing impairment