6,259 research outputs found
Early Science with the Karoo Array Telescope: a Mini-Halo Candidate in Galaxy Cluster Abell 3667
Abell 3667 is among the most well-studied galaxy clusters in the Southern
Hemisphere. It is known to host two giant radio relics and a head-tail radio
galaxy as the brightest cluster galaxy. Recent work has suggested the
additional presence of a bridge of diffuse synchrotron emission connecting the
North-Western radio relic with the cluster centre. In this work, we present
full-polarization observations of Abell 3667 conducted with the Karoo Array
Telescope at 1.33 and 1.82 GHz. Our results show both radio relics as well as
the brightest cluster galaxy. We use ancillary higher-resolution data to
subtract the emission from this galaxy, revealing a localised excess, which we
tentatively identify as a radio mini-halo. This mini-halo candidate has an
integrated flux density of mJy beam at 1.37 GHz,
corresponding to a radio power of P
W Hz, consistent with established trends in mini-halo power scaling.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, accepted MNRA
Breathlessness in the elderly during the last year of life sufficient to restrict activity
OBJECTIVES: Breathlessness is prevalent in older people. Symptom control at the end of life is important. This study investigated relationships between age, clinical characteristics and breathlessness sufficient to have people spend at least one half a day in that month in bed or cut down on their usual activities (restricting breathlessness) during the last year of life. DESIGN: Secondary data-analysis SETTING: General community PARTICIPANTS: 754 non-disabled persons, aged 70 and older. Monthly telephone interviews were conducted to determine the occurrence of restricting breathlessness. The primary outcome was the percentage of months with restricting breathlessness reported during the last year of life. RESULTS: Data regarding breathlessness were available for 548/589 (93.0%) decedents (mean age 86.7 years (range 71 to 106; males 38.8%). 311/548 (56.8%) reported restricting breathlessness at some time-point during the last year of life but no-one reported this every month. Frequency increased in the months closer to death irrespective of cause. Restricting breathlessness was associated with anxiety, (0.25 percentage point increase in months breathlessness per percentage point months reported anxiety, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.34, P<0.001), depression (0.14, 0.05 to 0.24, P=0.002) and mobility problems (0.07, 0.03 to 0.1, P=0.001). Percentage months of restricting breathlessness increased if chronic lung disease was noted at the most recent comprehensive assessment (6.62 percentage points, 95% CI 4.31 to 8.94, P<0.001), heart failure (3.34, 0.71 to 5.97, P<0.01), and ex-smoker status (3.01, 0.94 to 5.07, P=0.002), but decreased with older age (─0.19, ─0.37 to ─0.02, P=0.03). CONCLUSION: Restricting breathlessness increased in this elderly population in the months preceding death from any cause. Breathlessness should be assessed and managed in the context of poor prognosis
Hill's Equation with Random Forcing Parameters: The Limit of Delta Function Barriers
This paper considers random Hill's equations in the limit where the periodic
forcing function becomes a Dirac delta function. For this class of equations,
the forcing strength , the oscillation frequency \af_k, and the period
are allowed to vary from cycle to cycle. Such equations arise in astrophysical
orbital problems in extended mass distributions, in the reheating problem for
inflationary cosmologies, and in periodic Schr{\"o}dinger equations. The growth
rates for solutions to the periodic differential equation can be described by a
matrix transformation, where the matrix elements vary from cycle to cycle.
Working in the delta function limit, this paper addresses several coupled
issues: We find the growth rates for the matrices that describe
the solutions. This analysis is carried out in the limiting regimes of both
large and small forcing strength parameters. For the
latter case, we present an alternate treatment of the dynamics in terms of a
Fokker-Planck equation, which allows for a comparison of the two approaches.
Finally, we elucidate the relationship between the fundamental parameters
(\af_k,q_k) appearing in the stochastic differential equation and the matrix
elements that specify the corresponding discrete map. This work provides
analytic -- and accurate -- expressions for the growth rates of these
stochastic differential equations in both the and the
limits.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figures, accepted to Journal of Mathematical Physic
Globally optimal learning rates in multilayer neural networks
A method for calculating the globally optimal learning rate in on-line gradient-descent training of multilayer neural networks is presented. The method is based on a variational approach which maximizes the decrease in generalization error over a given time frame. We demonstrate the method by computing optimal learning rates in typical learning scenarios. The method can also be employed when different learning rates are allowed for different parameter vectors as well as to determine the relevance of related training algorithms based on modifications to the basic gradient descent rule
Two-Hole Bound States from a Systematic Low-Energy Effective Field Theory for Magnons and Holes in an Antiferromagnet
Identifying the correct low-energy effective theory for magnons and holes in
an antiferromagnet has remained an open problem for a long time. In analogy to
the effective theory for pions and nucleons in QCD, based on a symmetry
analysis of Hubbard and t-J-type models, we construct a systematic low-energy
effective field theory for magnons and holes located inside pockets centered at
lattice momenta (\pm pi/2a,\pm pi/2a). The effective theory is based on a
nonlinear realization of the spontaneously broken spin symmetry and makes
model-independent universal predictions for the entire class of lightly doped
antiferromagnetic precursors of high-temperature superconductors. The
predictions of the effective theory are exact, order by order in a systematic
low-energy expansion. We derive the one-magnon exchange potentials between two
holes in an otherwise undoped system. Remarkably, in some cases the
corresponding two-hole Schr\"odinger equations can even be solved analytically.
The resulting bound states have d-wave characteristics. The ground state wave
function of two holes residing in different hole pockets has a d_{x^2-y^2}-like
symmetry, while for two holes in the same pocket the symmetry resembles d_{xy}.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figure
Generating functions for generalized binomial distributions
In a recent article a generalization of the binomial distribution associated
with a sequence of positive numbers was examined. The analysis of the
nonnegativeness of the formal expressions was a key-point to allow to give them
a statistical interpretation in terms of probabilities. In this article we
present an approach based on generating functions that solves the previous
difficulties: the constraints of nonnegativeness are automatically fulfilled, a
complete characterization in terms of generating functions is given and a large
number of analytical examples becomes available.Comment: PDFLaTex, 27 pages, 5 figure
Directional effects due to quantum statistics in dissociation of elongated molecular condensates
Ultracold clouds of dimeric molecules can dissociate into quantum mechanically correlated constituent atoms that are either both bosons or both fermions. We theoretically model the dissociation of two-dimensional anisotropic molecular condensates for which this difference manifests as complementary geometric structures of the dissociated atoms. Atomic bosons are preferentially emitted along the long axis of the molecular condensate, while atomic fermions are preferentially emitted along the short axis. This anisotropy potentially simplifies the measurement of correlations between the atoms through relative number squeezing
Generalized phonon-assisted Zener tunneling in indirect semiconductors with non-uniform electric fields : a rigorous approach
A general framework to calculate the Zener current in an indirect
semiconductor with an externally applied potential is provided. Assuming a
parabolic valence and conduction band dispersion, the semiconductor is in
equilibrium in the presence of the external field as long as the electronphonon
interaction is absent. The linear response to the electron-phonon interaction
results in a non-equilibrium system. The Zener tunneling current is calculated
from the number of electrons making the transition from valence to conduction
band per unit time. A convenient expression based on the single particle
spectral functions is provided, enabling the numerical calculation of the Zener
current under any three-dimensional potential profile. For a one dimensional
potential profile an analytical expression is obtained for the current in a
bulk semiconductor, a semiconductor under uniform field and a semiconductor
under a non-uniform field using the WKB (Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin)
approximation. The obtained results agree with the Kane result in the low field
limit. A numerical example for abrupt p - n diodes with different doping
concentrations is given, from which it can be seen that the uniform field model
is a better approximation than the WKB model but a direct numerical treatment
is required for low bias conditions.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figure
Existence of the Stark-Wannier quantum resonances
In this paper we prove the existence of the Stark-Wannier quantum resonances
for one-dimensional Schrodinger operators with smooth periodic potential and
small external homogeneous electric field. Such a result extends the existence
result previously obtained in the case of periodic potentials with a finite
number of open gaps.Comment: 30 pages, 1 figur
Early childhood respiratory tract infections according to parental subfertility and conception by assisted reproductive technologies.
STUDY QUESTION
Are children conceived by ART or born to subfertile parents more susceptible to upper or lower respiratory tract infections (URTI, LRTI)?
SUMMARY ANSWER
ART-conceived children had a higher frequency of and risk of hospitalization for respiratory infections up to age 3, which was only partly explained by parental subfertility.
WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
Some studies report increased risks of infections in children conceived by ART. Results for URTIs and LRTIs are inconclusive, and the contribution of underlying parental subfertility remains unclear.
STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
We included 84 102 singletons of the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) born between 1999 and 2009. Mothers reported time-to-pregnancy at recruitment and child history of, frequency of and hospitalization for, respiratory infections when the child was 6, 18 and 36 months old by questionnaires. Subfertility was defined as having taken 12 or more months to conceive. The Medical Birth Registry of Norway (MBRN) provided information on ART. URTI included throat and ear infections, while LRTI included bronchitis, bronchiolitis, respiratory syncytial virus and pneumonia.
PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
We used log-binomial regression to estimate risk ratios (RR) and 95% CI of any respiratory tract infection and hospitalization, and negative-binomial regression to calculate incidence rate ratios (IRR) and 95% CI for number of infections. We compared children conceived by ART, and naturally conceived children of subfertile parents, to children of fertile parents (<12 months to conceive) while adjusting for maternal age, education, BMI and smoking during pregnancy and previous livebirths. We accounted for dependency between children born to the same mother.
MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
A total of 7334 (8.7%) singletons were naturally conceived by subfertile parents and 1901 (2.3%) were conceived by ART. Between age 0 and 36 months, 41 609 (49.5%) of children experienced any URTI, 15 542 (18.5%) any LRTI and 4134 (4.9%) were hospitalized due to LRTI. Up to age 3, children conceived by ART had higher frequencies of URTI (adjusted IRR (aIRR) 1.16; 95% CI 1.05-1.28) and hospitalizations due to LRTI (adjusted RR (aRR) 1.25; 95% CI 1.02-1.53), which was not seen for children of subfertile parents. Children conceived by ART were not at higher risks of respiratory infections up to age 18 months; only at age 19-36 months, they had increased risk of any LRTI (aRR 1.16; 95% CI 1.01-1.33), increased frequency of LRTIs (IRR 1.22; 95% CI 1.02-1.47) and a higher risk of hospitalization for LRTI (aRR 1.35; 95% CI 1.01-1.80). They also had an increased frequency of URTIs (aIRR; 1.19; 95% CI 1.07-1.33). Children of subfertile parents only had a higher risk of LRTIs (aRR 1.09; 95% CI 1.01-1.17) at age 19-36 months.
LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
Self-reported time-to-pregnancy and respiratory tract infections by parents could lead to misclassification. Both the initial participation rate and loss to follow up in the MoBa limits generalizability to the general Norwegian population.
WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
ART-conceived children might be more susceptible to respiratory tract infections in early childhood. This appears to be only partly explained by underlying parental subfertility. Exactly what aspects related to the ART procedure might be reflected in these associations need to be further investigated.
STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)
Funding was received from the Swiss National Science Foundation (P2BEP3_191798), the Research Council of Norway (no. 262700), and the European Research Council (no. 947684). All authors declare no conflict of interest.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
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