350 research outputs found
PMD75 Patient Self-Testing of Oral Anticoagulation Therapy by CoaguChek® XS System. Rapid Health Technology Assessment in Slovak Health Care Environment
An outcome evaluation of the BABES (Beginning Alcohol & Addiction Basic Education Studies) alcohol and drug abuse prevention program for first grade students : a case study
The Berry phase of dislocations in graphene and valley conserving decoherence
We demonstrate that dislocations in the graphene lattice give rise to
electron Berry phases equivalent to quantized values {0,1/3,-1/3} in units of
the flux quantum, but with an opposite sign for the two valleys. An elementary
scale consideration of a graphene Aharonov-Bohm ring equipped with valley
filters on both terminals, encircling a dislocation, says that in the regime
where the intervalley mean free path is large compared to the intravalley phase
coherence length, such that the valley quantum numbers can be regarded as
conserved on the relevant scale, the coherent valley-polarized currents
sensitive to the topological phases have to traverse the device many times
before both valleys contribute, and this is not possible at intermediate
temperatures where the latter length becomes of order of the device size, thus
leading to an apparent violation of the basic law of linear transport that
magnetoconductance is even in the applied flux. We discuss this discrepancy in
the Feynman path picture of dephasing, when addressing the transition from
quantum to classical dissipative transport. We also investigate this device in
the scattering matrix formalism, accounting for the effects of decoherence by
the Buttiker dephasing voltage probe type model which conserves the valleys,
where the magnetoconductance remains even in the flux, also when different
decoherence times are allowed for the individual, time reversal connected,
valleys.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; revised text, added figure, accepted for
publication by PR
Commensurate period Charge Density Modulations throughout the Pseudogap Regime
Theories based upon strong real space (r-space) electron electron
interactions have long predicted that unidirectional charge density modulations
(CDM) with four unit cell (4) periodicity should occur in the hole doped
cuprate Mott insulator (MI). Experimentally, however, increasing the hole
density p is reported to cause the conventionally defined wavevector of
the CDM to evolve continuously as if driven primarily by momentum space
(k-space) effects. Here we introduce phase resolved electronic structure
visualization for determination of the cuprate CDM wavevector. Remarkably, this
new technique reveals a virtually doping independent locking of the local CDM
wavevector at throughout the underdoped phase diagram of the
canonical cuprate . These observations have significant
fundamental consequences because they are orthogonal to a k-space (Fermi
surface) based picture of the cuprate CDM but are consistent with strong
coupling r-space based theories. Our findings imply that it is the latter that
provide the intrinsic organizational principle for the cuprate CDM state
Topological Defects Coupling Smectic Modulations to Intra-unit-cell Nematicity in Cuprate
We study the coexisting smectic modulations and intra-unit-cell nematicity in
the pseudogap states of underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+{\delta}. By visualizing their
spatial components separately, we identified 2\pi topological defects
throughout the phase-fluctuating smectic states. Imaging the locations of large
numbers of these topological defects simultaneously with the fluctuations in
the intra-unit-cell nematicity revealed strong empirical evidence for a
coupling between them. From these observations, we propose a Ginzburg-Landau
functional describing this coupling and demonstrate how it can explain the
coexistence of the smectic and intra-unit-cell broken symmetries and also
correctly predict their interplay at the atomic scale. This theoretical
perspective can lead to unraveling the complexities of the phase diagram of
cuprate high-critical-temperature superconductors
Conjugate Meningococcal Vaccines Development: GSK Biologicals Experience
Meningococcal diseases are serious threats to global health, and new vaccines specifically tailored to meet the age-related needs of various geographical areas are required. This paper focuses on the meningococcal conjugate vaccines developed by GSK Biologicals. Two combined conjugate vaccines were developed to help protect infants and young children in countries where the incidence of meningococcal serogroup C or serogroup C and Y disease is important: Hib-MenC-TT vaccine, which offers protection against Haemophilus influenzae type b and Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C diseases, is approved in several countries; and Hib-MenCY-TT vaccine, which adds N. meningitidis serogroup Y antigen, is currently in the final stages of development. Additionally, a tetravalent conjugate vaccine (MenACWY-TT) designed to help protect against four meningococcal serogroups is presently being evaluated for global use in all age groups. All of these vaccines were shown to be highly immunogenic and to have clinically acceptable safety profiles
thalamic damage predicts the evolution of primary progressive multiple sclerosis at 5 years
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Reliable markers to monitor PPMS are still needed. We investigated whether conventional and DTI measures of thalamic damage are predictive of long-term disability accumulation in PPMS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Brain conventional and DTI scans were obtained at baseline and after a mean follow-up of 15 months in 54 patients with PPMS and 8 healthy controls. Patients were reassessed clinically after 5 years. At baseline and follow-up, measures of lesion load, brain atrophy, and NTV were obtained. MD and FA histograms of the NAWM, the whole GM without the thalami, and the thalami were obtained. A multivariate analysis evaluated the predictors of long-term neurologic deterioration. RESULTS: At follow-up, 35 patients showed disability worsening. At baseline, compared with healthy controls, patients with PPMS had lower NTV ( P P = .002) and higher thalamic ( P = .002) and whole GM without the thalami ( P = .005) MD. During follow-up, the change of thalamic FA was higher in PPMS versus healthy controls ( P = .01). Baseline NTV and thalamic DTI quantities differed significantly between patients with PPMS with and without thalamic lesions. Baseline thalamic quantities were significantly correlated with the extent of brain T2 lesions and the severity of NAWM damage. The multivariate model included average NAWM MD (OR = 1.46, P = .005) and FA thalamic change (OR = 0.84, P = .02) as independent predictors of EDSS score deterioration (Nagelkerke R 2 = 0.55). CONCLUSIONS: Short-term accrual of thalamic damage and the severity of NAWM involvement predict the long-term accumulation of disability in PPMS
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