1,948 research outputs found
Is peak exposure to computer use a risk factor for neck and upper-extremity symptoms?
Objective Epidemiologic studies on physical exposure during computer use have mainly focused on average exposure duration. In this study, we aimed to relate periods of high peak exposure during computer use with the occurrence of neck-shoulder (NS) and arm-wrist-hand (AWH) symptoms. Methods A prospective cohort study among 1951 office workers was carried out for two years, with periodical questionnaires and continuous measurements of computer input use. To define peak exposure, a distinction was made between peak days and weeks. Peak days were defined as days with a long duration of computer (ie, â„4 hours) or mouse use (ie, â„2.5 hours) or days with high frequency of mouse (ie, â„20 clicks per minute) or keyboard use (ie, â„160 keystrokes per minute). Weeks containing â„3 peak days were considered peak weeks. Independent variables were numbers of peak days and peak weeks during a 3-month measurement period; dependent variables were self-reported NS and AWH symptoms during the following 3-month measurement period. Results Valid data were available for 2116 measurements of 774 office workers. No relation was found between any of the peak exposure parameters and AWH symptoms or with peak exposure in duration and NS symptoms. Most parameters referring to high frequency-related peak exposure were associated with less NS symptoms, but the effect estimates were very small and the confidence intervals close to the null. Conclusion In this study, we found no indication that high peaks in computer use were related to the occurrence of NS or AWH symptoms. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Flexible Power Modeling of LTE Base Stations
With the explosion of wireless communications in number of users and data rates, the reduction of network power consumption becomes more and more critical. This is especially true for base stations which represent a dominant share of the total power in cellular networks. In order to study power reduction techniques, a convenient power model is required, providing estimates of the power consumption in different scenarios. This paper proposes such a model, accurate but simple to use. It evaluates the base station power consumption for different types of cells supporting the 3GPP LTE standard. It is flexible enough to enable comparisons between state-of-the-art and advanced configurations, and an easy adaptation to various scenarios. The model is based on a combination of base station components and sub-components as well as power scaling rules as functions of the main system parameters
Families, children, migration and AIDS
Migration is very often a family affair, and often involves children, directly or indirectly. It may give rise to better quality of life for an entire family, or to bitter disappointment, and may also increase vulnerability to HIV and AIDS. This review, carried out for the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and AIDS, links the literature on âmigrationâ, on âHIV and AIDSâ and on âfamiliesâ. Three themes are sketched: (1) As both HIV prevalence and circular migration increase, former migrant workers affected by AIDS may return to their families for care and support, especially at the end of life, often under crisis conditions. Families thus lose promising members, as well as sources of support. However, very little is known about the children of such migrants. (2) Following patterns of migration established for far different reasons, children may have to relocate to different places, sometimes over long distances, if their AIDS-affected parents can no longer care for them. They face the same adaptation challenges as other children who move, but complicated by loss of parent(s), AIDS stigma, and often poverty. (3) The issue of migrant families living with HIV has been studied to some extent, but mainly in developed countries with a long history of migration, and with little attention paid to the children in such families. Difficulties include involuntary separation from family members, isolation and lack of support, disclosure and planning for children's care should the parent(s) die and differences in treatment access within the same family. Numerous research and policy gaps are defined regarding the three themes, and a call is made for thinking about migration, families and AIDS to go beyond description to include resilience theory, and to go beyond prevention to include care
Quantum mechanical analysis of the equilateral triangle billiard: periodic orbit theory and wave packet revivals
Using the fact that the energy eigenstates of the equilateral triangle
infinite well (or billiard) are available in closed form, we examine the
connections between the energy eigenvalue spectrum and the classical closed
paths in this geometry, using both periodic orbit theory and the short-term
semi-classical behavior of wave packets. We also discuss wave packet revivals
and show that there are exact revivals, for all wave packets, at times given by
where and are the length of one side
and the mass of the point particle respectively. We find additional cases of
exact revivals with shorter revival times for zero-momentum wave packets
initially located at special symmetry points inside the billiard. Finally, we
discuss simple variations on the equilateral
() triangle, such as the half equilateral
() triangle and other `foldings', which have
related energy spectra and revival structures.Comment: 34 pages, 9 embedded .eps figure
Modulated structures in electroconvection in nematic liquid crystals
Motivated by experiments in electroconvection in nematic liquid crystals with
homeotropic alignment we study the coupled amplitude equations describing the
formation of a stationary roll pattern in the presence of a weakly-damped mode
that breaks isotropy. The equations can be generalized to describe the planarly
aligned case if the orienting effect of the boundaries is small, which can be
achieved by a destabilizing magnetic field. The slow mode represents the
in-plane director at the center of the cell. The simplest uniform states are
normal rolls which may undergo a pitchfork bifurcation to abnormal rolls with a
misaligned in-plane director.We present a new class of defect-free solutions
with spatial modulations perpendicular to the rolls. In a parameter range where
the zig-zag instability is not relevant these solutions are stable attractors,
as observed in experiments. We also present two-dimensionally modulated states
with and without defects which result from the destabilization of the
one-dimensionally modulated structures. Finally, for no (or very small)
damping, and away from the rotationally symmetric case, we find static chevrons
made up of a periodic arrangement of defect chains (or bands of defects)
separating homogeneous regions of oblique rolls with very small amplitude.
These states may provide a model for a class of poorly understood stationary
structures observed in various highly-conducting materials ("prechevrons" or
"broad domains").Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure
Far-infrared photo-conductivity of electrons in an array of nano-structured antidots
We present far-infrared (FIR) photo-conductivity measurements for a
two-dimensional electron gas in an array of nano-structured antidots. We
detect, resistively and spectrally resolved, both the magnetoplasmon and the
edge-magnetoplasmon modes. Temperature-dependent measurements demonstrates that
both modes contribute to the photo resistance by heating the electron gas via
resonant absorption of the FIR radiation. Influences of spin effect and phonon
bands on the collective excitations in the antidot lattice are observed.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Short-range interactions in a two-electron system: energy levels and magnetic properties
The problem of two electrons in a square billiard interacting via a
finite-range repulsive Yukawa potential and subjected to a constant magnetic
field is considered. We compute the energy spectrum for both singlet and
triplet states, and for all symmetry classes, as a function of the strength and
range of the interaction and of the magnetic field. We show that the
short-range nature of the potential suppresses the formation of ``Wigner
molecule'' states for the ground state, even in the strong interaction limit.
The magnetic susceptibility shows low-temperature paramagnetic peaks
due to exchange induced singlet-triplet oscillations. The position, number and
intensity of these peaks depend on the range and strength of the interaction.
The contribution of the interaction to the susceptibility displays paramagnetic
and diamagnetic phases as a function of .Comment: 12 pages,6 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev.
Statistics of Coulomb Blockade Peak Spacings within the Hartree-Fock Approximation
We study the effect of electronic interactions on the addition spectra and on
the energy level distributions of two-dimensional quantum dots with weak
disorder using the self-consistent Hartree-Fock approximation for spinless
electrons. We show that the distribution of the conductance peak spacings is
Gaussian with large fluctuations that exceed, in agreement with experiments,
the mean level spacing of the non-interacting system. We analyze this
distribution on the basis of Koopmans' theorem. We show furthermore that the
occupied and unoccupied Hartree-Fock levels exhibit Wigner-Dyson statistics.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted for publicatio
Electron transport in nanotube--molecular wire hybrids
We study contact effects on electron transport across a molecular wire
sandwiched between two semi-infinite (carbon) nanotube leads as a model for
nanoelectrodes. Employing the Landauer scattering matrix approach we find that
the conductance is very sensitive to parameters such as the coupling strength
and geometry of the contact. The conductance exhibits markedly different
behavior in the two limiting scenarios of single contact and multiple contacts
between the molecular wire and the nanotube interfacial atoms. In contrast to a
single contact the multiple-contact configuration acts as a filter selecting
single transport channels. It exhibits a scaling law for the conductance as a
function of coupling strength and tube diameter. We also observe an unusual
narrow-to-broad-to-narrow behavior of conductance resonances upon decreasing
the coupling.Comment: 4 pages, figures include
Numerical simulations of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium
In this paper we review the current predictions of numerical simulations for
the origin and observability of the warm hot intergalactic medium (WHIM), the
diffuse gas that contains up to 50 per cent of the baryons at z~0. During
structure formation, gravitational accretion shocks emerging from collapsing
regions gradually heat the intergalactic medium (IGM) to temperatures in the
range T~10^5-10^7 K. The WHIM is predicted to radiate most of its energy in the
ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray bands and to contribute a significant fraction of
the soft X-ray background emission. While O VI and C IV absorption systems
arising in the cooler fraction of the WHIM with T~10^5-10^5.5 K are seen in
FUSE and HST observations, models agree that current X-ray telescopes such as
Chandra and XMM-Newton do not have enough sensitivity to detect the hotter
WHIM. However, future missions such as Constellation-X and XEUS might be able
to detect both emission lines and absorption systems from highly ionised atoms
such as O VII, O VIII and Fe XVII.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Space Science
Reviews, special issue "Clusters of galaxies: beyond the thermal view",
Editor J.S. Kaastra, Chapter 14; work done by an international team at the
International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, organised by J.S.
Kaastra, A.M. Bykov, S. Schindler & J.A.M. Bleeke
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