Transport across nanogaps using semiclassically consistent boundary conditions

Charge particle transport across nanogaps is studied theoretically within the Schrodinger-Poisson mean field framework and the existence of limiting current investigated. It is shown that the choice of a first order WKB wavefunction as the transmitted wave leads to self consistent boundary conditions and gives results that are significantly different in the non-classical regime from those obtained using a plane transmitted wave. At zero injection energies, the quantum limiting current density, J_c, is found to obey the local scaling law J_c ~ (V_g)^alpha/(D)^{5-2alpha} with the gap separation D and voltage V_g. The exponent alpha > 1.1 with alpha --> 3/2 in the classical regime of small de Broglie wavelengths. These results are consistent with recent experiments using nanogaps most of which are found to be in a parameter regime where classical space charge limited scaling holds away from the emission dominated regime.Comment: 4 pages, 4 ps figure

Laminated Jute and Glass Fibre Reinforced Composite for Repairing Concrete Through Wrapping Technique

In the recent decades, the research of natural fibre in concrete structure materials had attracted many researchers and engineers due to its good agreement in mechanical properties, economically and sustainability. In this study, the jute and glass fibre laminated composite for repairing concrete through the wrapping technique was analysed. A total of 66 concrete specimens, 150 x 50 mm each, were tested. Six concrete specimens were kept as control specimen, 30 specimens were laminated with glass fibre-reinforced thermoset (GFRT) and 30 specimens were laminated with jute fibre-reinforced thermoset (JFRT). The vinyl ester (VE) was used as a matrix. Eventually, all specimen was tested using compression and Brazilian testing. It was found that both GFRT and JFRT had the potential to improve the mechanical performance of concrete specimens with the increment of a maximum number of five (5) layers of woven fibre. It was also found that the four (4) layers of JFRT had the highest mechanical properties with improvement of 72.62% compare to GFRT (4 layers). The results presented here may facilitate improvements in the concrete specimen by using JFRT where it had been suggested to have a higher improvement for the concrete specimen with the optimum layers applied. Hence, jute fibre had been proven to have better performance and can replace the use of glass fibre

Laminated Jute and Glass Fibre Reinforced Composite for Repairing Concrete Through Wrapping Technique

In the recent decades, the research of natural fibre in concrete structure materials had attracted many researchers and engineers due to its good agreement in mechanical properties, economically and sustainability. In this study, the jute and glass fibre laminated composite for repairing concrete through the wrapping technique was analysed. A total of 66 concrete specimens, 150 x 50 mm each, were tested. Six concrete specimens were kept as control specimen, 30 specimens were laminated with glass fibre-reinforced thermoset (GFRT) and 30 specimens were laminated with jute fibre-reinforced thermoset (JFRT). The vinyl ester (VE) was used as a matrix. Eventually, all specimen was tested using compression and Brazilian testing. It was found that both GFRT and JFRT had the potential to improve the mechanical performance of concrete specimens with the increment of a maximum number of five (5) layers of woven fibre. It was also found that the four (4) layers of JFRT had the highest mechanical properties with improvement of 72.62% compare to GFRT (4 layers). The results presented here may facilitate improvements in the concrete specimen by using JFRT where it had been suggested to have a higher improvement for the concrete specimen with the optimum layers applied. Hence, jute fibre had been proven to have better performance and can replace the use of glass fibre

Sequential Vinorelbine and Docetaxel in Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Age 70 and Older and/or with a Performance Status of 2: A Phase II Trial of the Southwest Oncology Group (S0027)

BackgroundThis phase II study (S0027) evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of planned sequential single-agent chemotherapy with vinorelbine followed by docetaxel in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) age 70 and older and/or a performance status (PS) of 2.MethodsPatients with stage IIIB (pleural effusion) or stage IV NSCLC, age 70 and older with a PS of 0-1 or 2, any age, received three cycles of vinorelbine 25 mg/m2 days 1 and 8 every 21 days followed by three cycles of docetaxel 35 mg/m2 days 1, 8, and 15 every 28 days.ResultsA total of 125 patients entered the study; 117 patients were assessable for response, survival, and toxicity. Seventy-five patients were in stratum1 (age 70 and older, PS 0-1) and 42 patients in stratum 2 (PS 2, any age). Objective response was 19% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 11%–30%) and 11% (95% CI: 3%–25%) in strata 1 and 2, respectively. Median survival was 9.1 months (95% CI: 7.1–12.7) and 5.5 months (95% CI: 3.1–6.5) in strata 1 and 2, respectively. Survival at 12 months was 41% and 13% in strata 1 and 2, respectively. Grade 3/4 neutropenia was seen in 32% and 31% of patients in strata 1 and 2, respectively. Three deaths probably related to treatment were noted: one in stratum 1 and two in stratum 2.ConclusionSequential vinorelbine and docetaxel is a well-tolerated and effective regimen in comparison with reports of other treatments tested in patients with advanced NSCLC age 70 and older and/or with a PS of 2

Alcohol Use Patterns and Subsequent Sexual Behaviors Among Women, Men who have Sex with Men and Men who have Sex with Women Engaged in Routine HIV Care in the United States

Among people with HIV, alcohol use is associated with increased prevalence of sexual transmission behaviors. We examined associations between alcohol use in the prior year and sexual behaviors approximately six months later among 1857 women, 6752 men who have sex with men (MSM) and 2685 men who have sex with women (MSW). Any alcohol use was associated with increased risk of unsafe vaginal sex among women; anal sex and =>2 anal sex partners among MSM; and anal sex, =>2 anal or vaginal sex partners, and unsafe vaginal sex among MSW. In particular, among women >7 alcoholic drinks/week and among MSW =>5 alcoholic drinks/drinking day increased the likelihood of certain subsequent sexual behaviors. For all groups, especially women, the risk of sex under the influence of drugs/alcohol markedly increased with increases in quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption. These different patterns of drinking and sexual behaviors indicate the importance of tailored counseling messages to women, MSM and MSW

Multi-response analysis in the material characterisation of electrospun poly (lactic acid)/halloysite nanotube composite fibres based on Taguchi design of experiments: fibre diameter, non-intercalation and nucleation effects

Poly (lactic acid) (PLA)/halloysite nanotube (HNT) composite fibres were prepared by using a simple and versatile electrospinning technique. The systematic approach via Taguchi design of experiments (DoE) was implemented to investigate factorial effects of applied voltage, feed rate of solution, collector distance and HNT concentration on the fibre diameter, HNT non-intercalation and nucleation effects. The HNT intercalation level, composite fibre morphology, their associated fibre diameter and thermal properties were evaluated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), imaging analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. HNT non-intercalation phenomenon appears to be manifested as reflected by the minimal shift of XRD peaks for all electrospun PLA/HNT composite fibres. The smaller-fibre-diameter characteristic was found to be sequentially associated with the feed rate of solution, collector distance and applied voltage. The glass transition temperature (T g) and melting temperature (T m) are not highly affected by varying the material and electrospinning parameters. However, as the indicator of the nucleation effect, the crystallisation temperature (T c) of PLA/HNT composite fibres is predominantly impacted by HNT concentration and applied voltage. It is evident that HNT’s nucleating agent role is confirmed when embedded with HNTs to accelerate the cold crystallisation of composite fibres. Taguchi DoE method has been found to be an effective approach to statistically optimise critical parameters used in electrospinning in order to effectively tailor the resulting physical features and thermal properties of PLA/HNT composite fibres

Evaluating the Population Impact on Racial/Ethnic Disparities in HIV in Adulthood of Intervening on Specific Targets: A Conceptual and Methodological Framework

Reducing racial/ethnic disparities in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease is a high priority. Reductions in HIV racial/ethnic disparities can potentially be achieved by intervening on important intermediate factors. The potential population impact of intervening on intermediates can be evaluated using observational data when certain conditions are met. However, using standard stratification-based approaches commonly employed in the observational HIV literature to estimate the potential population impact in this setting may yield results that do not accurately estimate quantities of interest. Here we describe a useful conceptual and methodological framework for using observational data to appropriately evaluate the impact on HIV racial/ethnic disparities of interventions. This framework reframes relevant scientific questions in terms of a controlled direct effect and estimates a corresponding proportion eliminated. We review methods and conditions sufficient for accurate estimation within the proposed framework. We use the framework to analyze data on 2,329 participants in the CFAR [Centers for AIDS Research] Network of Integrated Clinical Systems (2008-2014) to evaluate the potential impact of universal prescription of and ≥95% adherence to antiretroviral therapy on racial disparities in HIV virological suppression. We encourage the use of the described framework to appropriately evaluate the potential impact of targeted interventions in addressing HIV racial/ethnic disparities using observational data

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters