91 research outputs found
Bouncing localized structures in a liquid-crystal light-valve experiment
Experimental evidence of bouncing localized structures in a nonlinear optical
system is reported.Comment: 4 page
Non-Gaussian statistics and extreme waves in a nonlinear optical cavity
A unidirectional optical oscillator is built by using a liquid crystal
light-valve that couples a pump beam with the modes of a nearly spherical
cavity. For sufficiently high pump intensity, the cavity field presents a
complex spatio-temporal dynamics, accompanied by the emission of extreme waves
and large deviations from the Gaussian statistics. We identify a mechanism of
spatial symmetry breaking, due to a hypercycle-type amplification through the
nonlocal coupling of the cavity field
A phenomenological approach to normal form modeling: a case study in laser induced nematodynamics
An experimental setting for the polarimetric study of optically induced
dynamical behavior in nematic liquid crystal films has allowed to identify most
notably some behavior which was recognized as gluing bifurcations leading to
chaos. This analysis of the data used a comparison with a model for the
transition to chaos via gluing bifurcations in optically excited nematic liquid
crystals previously proposed by G. Demeter and L. Kramer. The model of these
last authors, proposed about twenty years before, does not have the central
symmetry which one would expect for minimal dimensional models for chaos in
nematics in view of the time series. What we show here is that the simplest
truncated normal forms for gluing, with the appropriate symmetry and minimal
dimension, do exhibit time signals that are embarrassingly similar to the ones
found using the above mentioned experimental settings. The gluing bifurcation
scenario itself is only visible in limited parameter ranges and substantial
aspect of the chaos that can be observed is due to other factors. First, out of
the immediate neighborhood of the homoclinic curve, nonlinearity can produce
expansion leading to chaos when combined with the recurrence induced by the
homoclinic behavior. Also, pairs of symmetric homoclinic orbits create extreme
sensitivity to noise, so that when the noiseless approach contains a rich
behavior, minute noise can transform the complex damping into sustained chaos.
Leonid Shil'nikov taught us that combining global considerations and local
spectral analysis near critical points is crucial to understand the
phenomenology associated to homoclinic bifurcations. Here this helps us
construct a phenomenological approach to modeling experiments in nonlinear
dissipative contexts.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figure
Parametric Forcing of Waves with Non-Monotonic Dispersion Relation: Domain Structures in Ferrofluids?
Surface waves on ferrofluids exposed to a dc-magnetic field exhibit a
non-monotonic dispersion relation. The effect of a parametric driving on such
waves is studied within suitable coupled Ginzburg-Landau equations. Due to the
non-monotonicity the neutral curve for the excitation of standing waves can
have up to three minima. The stability of the waves with respect to long-wave
perturbations is determined a phase-diffusion equation. It shows that the
band of stable wave numbers can split up into two or three sub-bands. The
resulting competition between the wave numbers corresponding to the respective
sub-bands leads quite naturally to patterns consisting of multiple domains of
standing waves which differ in their wave number. The coarsening dynamics of
such domain structures is addressed.Comment: 23 pages, 6 postscript figures, composed using RevTeX. Submitted to
PR
Frailty and post-operative delirium influence on functional status in patients with hip fracture: the GIOG 2.0 study
Background: This study analyzes the effect of frailty and Post-Operative Delirium (POD) on the functional status at hospital discharge and at 4-month follow-up in patients with hip fracture (HF). Methods: Multicenter prospective observational study of older patients with HF admitted to 12 Italian Orthogeriatric centers (July 2019-August 2022). POD was assessed using the 4AT. A 26-item Frailty Index (FI) was created using data collected on admission. The outcome measures were Cumulated Ambulation Score (CAS) ≤ 2 at discharge and a telephone-administered CAS ≤ 2 after 4 months. Poisson regression models were used to assess the effect of frailty and POD on outcomes. Results: 984 patients (median age 84 years, IQR = 79–89) were recruited: 480 (48.7%) were frail at admission, 311 (31.6%) developed POD, and 158 (15.6%) had both frailty and POD. In a robust Poisson regression, frailty alone (Relative Risk, RR = 1.56, 95% Confidence Intervals, CI 1.19–2.04, p = 0.001) and its combination with POD (RR = 2.57, 95% CI 2.02–3.26, p < 0.001) were associated with poor functional status at discharge. At 4-month follow-up, the combination of frailty with POD (RR 3.65, 95% CI 1.85–7.2, p < 0.001) increased the risk of poor outcome more than frailty alone (RR 2.38, 95% CI 1.21–4.66, p < 0.001). Conclusions: POD development exacerbates the negative effect that frailty exerts on functional outcomes in HF patients
On the magnetic fields generated by experimental dynamos
We review the results obtained by three successful fluid dynamo experiments
and discuss what has been learnt from them about the effect of turbulence on
the dynamo threshold and saturation. We then discuss several questions that are
still open and propose experiments that could be performed to answer some of
them.Comment: 40 pages, 13 figure
Sexual Functioning and Opioid Maintenance Treatment in Women. Results From a Large Multicentre Study
Opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) is the most widespread therapy for both females and males opioid addicts. While many studies have evaluated the OMT impact on men’s sexuality, the data collected about the change in women’s sexual functioning is still limited despite the fact that it is now well-known that opioids - both endogenous and exogenous - affect the endocrine system and play an important role in sexual functioning. The present study aims to determine how OMT with buprenorphine (BUP) or methadone (MTD) affects sexual health in women; examining also any possible emerging correlation between sexual dysfunction (SD), type of opioid and patients’ mental health. This multi-center study case recruited 258 female volunteers attending Italian public Addiction Outpatients Centers that were stabilized with OMT for at least 3 months. SD was assessed with the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale. The twelve-item General Health Questionnaire was used to assess participants’ mental health conditions. The results show that 56.6% of women receiving OMT for at least 3 months presented SD without significant differences between MTD e BUP groups. The majority of the subjects with SD have a poorer quality of intimate relationships and worse mental health than the average. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the largest report on the presence of SDs in women as a side effects of MTD and BUP used in OMT. Since SDs cause difficulties in intimate relationships, lower patients’ quality of life and interfere with OMT beneficial outcomes, we recommend that women undertaking an opioid therapy have routine screening for SD and we highlight the importance to better examine opioid-endocrine interactions in future studies in order to provide alternative potential treatments such as the choice of opioid, opioid dose reduction and hormone supplementation
Correlação e associação de renda e escolaridade com condições de saúde e nutrição em obesos graves
Spontaneous motion of localized structures and localized patterns induced by delayed feedback
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