Long-term behavior of energetic inner-belt protons

Long term behavior of energetic inner-belt proton

Implications of new measurements of O-16 + p + C-12,13, N-14,15 for the abundances of C, N isotopes at the cosmic ray source

The fragmentation of a 225 MeV/n O-16 beam was investigated at the Bevalac. Preliminary cross sections for mass = 13, 14, 15 fragments are used to constrain the nuclear excitation functions employed in galactic propagation calculations. Comparison to cosmic ray isotonic data at low energies shows that in the cosmic ray source C-13/C approximately 2% and N-14/0=3-6%. No source abundance of N-15 is required with the current experimental results

Diet, nutrition and the prevention of type 2 diabetes

Objectives: The overall objective of this study was to evaluate and provide evidence and recommendations on current published literature about diet and lifestyle in the prevention of type 2 diabetes. Design: Epidemiological and experimental studies, focusing on nutritional intervention in the prevention of type 2 diabetes are used to make disease-specific recommendations. Long-term cohort studies are given the most weight as to strength of evidence available. Setting and subjects: Numerous clinical trials and cohort studies in low, middle and high income countries are evaluated regarding recommendations for dietary prevention of type 2 diabetes. These include, among others, the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study, US Diabetes Prevention Program, Da Qing Study; Pima Indian Study; Iowa Women’s Health Study; and the study of the US Male Physicians. Results: There is convincing evidence for a decreased risk of diabetes in adults who are physically active and maintain a normal body mass index (BMI) throughout adulthood, and in overweight adults with impaired glucose tolerance who lose weight voluntarily. An increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes is associated with overweight and obesity; abdominal obesity; physical inactivity; and maternal diabetes. It is probable that a high intake of saturated fats and intrauterine growth retardation also contribute to an increased risk, while non-starch polysaccharides are likely to be associated with a decreased risk. From existing evidence it is also possible that omega-3 fatty acids, low glycaemic index foods and exclusive breastfeeding may play a protective role, and that total fat intake and trans fatty acids may contribute to the risk. However, insufficient evidence is currently available to provide convincing proof. Conclusions: Based on the strength of available evidence regarding diet and lifestyle in the prevention of type 2 diabetes, it is recommended that a normal weight status in the lower BMI range (BMI 21–23) and regular physical activity be maintained throughout adulthood; abdominal obesity be prevented; and saturated fat intake be less than 7% of the total energy intake

Fundamental Strings in Open String Theory at the Tachyonic Vacuum

We show that the world-volume theory on a D-p-brane at the tachyonic vacuum has solitonic string solutions whose dynamics is governed by the Nambu-Goto action of a string moving in (25+1) dimensional space-time. This provides strong evidence for the conjecture that at this vacuum the full (25+1) dimensional Poincare invariance is restored. We also use this result to argue that the open string field theory at the tachyonic vacuum must contain closed string excitations.Comment: LaTeX file, 16 pages, references and clarification adde

Exact String Solutions in Nontrivial Backgrounds

We show how the classical string dynamics in $D$-dimensional gravity background can be reduced to the dynamics of a massless particle constrained on a certain surface whenever there exists at least one Killing vector for the background metric. We obtain a number of sufficient conditions, which ensure the existence of exact solutions to the equations of motion and constraints. These results are extended to include the Kalb-Ramond background. The $D1$-brane dynamics is also analyzed and exact solutions are found. Finally, we illustrate our considerations with several examples in different dimensions. All this also applies to the tensionless strings.Comment: 22 pages, LaTeX, no figures; V2:Comments and references added; V3:Discussion on the properties of the obtained solutions extended, a reference and acknowledgment added; V4:The references renumbered, to appear in Phys Rev.

The person-centred approach to an ageing society

Modern care is often based on investigations such as laboratory markers and imaging - for example, X-ray or ultrasound. The results contribute to a diagnosis and, if judged necessary, treatment is initiated. This diseased-oriented approach is the prevailing mode of management in modern medicine. In contrast, person-centered care (PCC) takes the point of departure from each person\ub4s subjective experience of illness and its impact on daily life. A patient is considered as a person with emotions and feelings. PCC is considered present within clinical care according to a definition articulated by the Centre for Person Centred Care at the University of Gothenburg (GPCC) when three core components are present: elicitation of a detailed patient narrative; formulated partnership between caregiver and patient and documentation of the partnership in the patient record. Accordingly, when there is an illness requiring care and the person is attended using these components, PCC is being applied. In most situations today, PCC is not applied in terms of the narrative and is not fully elicited or the partnership and/or the documentation are not included. It is proposed that the challenge to Society arising from changing demographics can be addressed by implementing PCC and creating an alternative to existing healthcare. The importance and benefits of such an approach on a wider scale is not yet clear as research has been limited to date. Studies in selected patient populations (heart failure and hip fractures), however, have shown promising results. As the population ages, there will be a dramatic increase in healthcare consumption. Even with technological developments, there will be a need for tremendous resources to be dedicated to care. A new organization and attitude from healthcare policymakers and providers above and beyond the present model appears required in order to respond to this demand. As part of such change, person-centred care, with the interaction between healthcare providers and the person of the patient, can facilitate, compensate and develop more effective healthcare services for the future

Worldsheet Instantons and a Null String Limit of Born-Infeld Theory

For a superstring theory in four spacetime dimensions, we propose a modification of the Born-Infeld action that possesses a well-defined tensionless limit. We interpret this as describing the effective target space dynamics of null strings on a D3-brane. We argue that such a modification can be induced by nonperturbative contributions from instantons in the worldsheet sigma-model describing string propagation on the brane.Comment: 11 pages; Comments and references adde

Dirac-Born-Infeld Action on the Tachyon Kink and Vortex

The tachyon effective field theory describing the dynamics of a non-BPS D-brane in superstring theory has an infinitely thin but finite tension kink solution describing a codimension one BPS D-brane. We study the world-volume theory of massless modes on the kink, and show that the world volume action has precisely the Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) form without any higher derivative corrections. We generalize this to a vortex solution in the effective field theory on a brane-antibrane pair. As in the case of the kink, the vortex is infinitely thin, has finite energy density, and the world-volume action on the vortex is again given exactly by the DBI action on a BPS D-brane. We also discuss the coupling of fermions and restoration of supersymmetry and $\kappa$-symmetry on the world-volume of the kink. Absence of higher derivative corrections to the DBI action on the soliton implies that all such corrections are related to higher derivative corrections to the original effective action on the world-volume of a non-BPS D-brane or brane-antibrane pair.Comment: LaTeX file, 34 pages; references and other minor comments adde

Institutional trust and alcohol consumption in Sweden: The Swedish National Public Health Survey 2006

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Trust as a measure of social capital has been documented to be associated with health. Mediating factors for this association are not well investigated. Harmful alcohol consumption is believed to be one of the mediating factors. We hypothesized that low social capital defined as low institutional trust is associated with harmful alcohol consumption.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data from the 2006 Swedish National Survey of Public Health were used for analyses. The total study population comprised a randomly selected representative sample of 26.305 men and 30.584 women aged 16–84 years. Harmful alcohol consumption was measured using a short version the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), developed and recommended by the World Health Organisation. Low institutional trust was defined based on trust in ten main welfare institutions in Sweden.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Independent of age, country of birth and socioeconomic circumstances, low institutional trust was associated with increased likelihood of harmful alcohol consumption (OR (men) = 1.52, 95% CI 1.34–1.70) and (OR (women) = 1.50, 95% CI 1.35–1.66). This association was marginally altered after adjustment for interpersonal trust.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Findings of the present study show that lack of trust in institutions is associated with increased likelihood of harmful alcohol consumption. We hope that findings in the present study will inspire similar studies in other contexts and contribute to more knowledge on the association between institutional trust and lifestyle patterns. This evidence may contribute to policies and strategies related to alcohol consumption.</p