1,959 research outputs found
Survival after postoperative morbidity: a longitudinal observational cohort study
Prolonged morbidity after surgery is associated with a risk of premature death for a longer duration than perhaps is commonly thought; however, this risk falls with time. We suggest that prolonged postoperative morbidity measured in this way may be a valid indicator of the quality of surgical healthcare. Our findings reinforce the importance of research and quality improvement initiatives aimed at reducing the duration and severity of postoperative complication
Correlation Functions in the Multiple Ising Model Coupled to Gravity
The model of p Ising spins coupled to 2d gravity, in the form of a sum over
planar phi-cubed graphs, is studied and in particular the two-point and
spin-spin correlation functions are considered. We first solve a toy model in
which only a partial summation over spin configurations is performed and, using
a modified geodesic distance, various correlation functions are determined. The
two-point function has a diverging length scale associated with it. The
critical exponents are calculated and it is shown that all the standard scaling
relations apply. Next the full model is studied, in which all spin
configurations are included. Many of the considerations for the toy model apply
for the full model, which also has a diverging geometric correlation length
associated with the transition to a branched polymer phase. Using a transfer
function we show that the two-point and spin-spin correlation functions decay
exponentially with distance. Finally, by assuming various scaling relations, we
make a prediction for the critical exponents at the transition between the
magnetized and branched polymer phases in the full model.Comment: 29 pages, LaTeX, uses epsf macro, 5 figure
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for the evaluation of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as with most other forms of intracranial inflammatory or infectious diseases, is a powerful though largely nonspecific diagnostic tool. For imaging of these complex patients with the varied and numerous pathologies they may harbor, the standard protocol is utilized to include gadolinium‐enhanced sequences. This unit presents optional imaging sequences, including magnetic resonance diffusion (dMRI), magnetic resonance perfusion (pMRI), and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), that can be employed should patient tolerance allow and if specific the clinical situation requires further clarification.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145277/1/cpmia0403.pd
Understanding service demand for mental health among Australians aged 16 to 64 years according to their possible need for treatment
Background: To inform decisions about mental health resource allocation, planners require reliable estimates of people who report service demand (i.e. people who use or want mental health services) according to their level of possible need. Methods: Using data on 6915 adults aged 16-64 years in Australia's 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, we examined past-year service demand among respondents grouped into four levels of possible need: (a) 12-month mental disorder; (b) lifetime but no 12-month mental disorder; (c) any other indicator of possible need (12-month symptoms or reaction to stressful event, or lifetime hospitalisation); (d) no indicator of possible need. Multivariate logistic regression analyses examined correlates of service demand, separately for respondents in each of levels 1-3. Results: Sixteen per cent of Australian adults reported service demand, of whom one-third did not meet criteria for a 12-month mental disorder (equivalent to 5.7% of the adult population). Treatment patterns tended to follow a gradient defined by level of possible need. For example, service users with a 12-month disorder received, on average, 1.6-3.9 times more consultations than their counterparts in other levels of possible need, and had 1.9-2.2 times higher rates of psychologist consultation. Service users with a lifetime but not 12-month disorder or any other indicator of need consumed a similar average number of services to people with mild 12-month mental disorders, but received relatively fewer services involving the mental health sector. Service demand was associated with increased suicidality and psychological distress in all levels of possible need examined, and with poorer clinical and functional status for those with 12-month or lifetime disorders. Conclusions: Many Australians reporting service demand do not meet criteria for a current mental disorder, but may require services to maintain recovery following a past episode or because they are experiencing symptoms and significant psychological distress
Wandering globular clusters: the first dwarf galaxies in the universe?
In the last decade we witness an advent of new types of dwarf stellar systems
in cluding ultra-compact dwarfs, ultra-faint dwarf spheroidals, and exotic
globular clusters, breaking the old simple paradigm for dwarf galaxies and
globular clusters. These objects become more intriguing, and understanding of
these new findings be comes more challenging. Recently we discovered a new type
of large scale structure in the Virgo cluster of galaxies: it is composed of
globular clusters. Globular clusters in Virgo are found wandering between
galaxies (intracluster globular clusters) as well as in galaxies. These
intracluster globular clusters fill a significant fraction in the area of the
Virgo cluster and they are dominated by blue globular clusters. These
intracluster globular clusters may be closely related with the first dwarf
galaxies in the universe.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Conference Proceedings: "A Universe of Dwarf
Galaxies", 14-18 June 2010, Lyon, Franc
A hidden Goldstone mechanism in the Kagom\'e lattice antiferromagnet
In this paper, we study the phases of the Heisenberg model on the \kagome
lattice with antiferromagnetic nearest neighbour coupling and
ferromagnetic next neighbour coupling . Analysing the long wavelength, low
energy effective action that describes this model, we arrive at the phase
diagram as a function of . The interesting part of
this phase diagram is that for small , which includes , there is
a phase with no long range spin order and with gapless and spin zero low lying
excitations. We discuss our results in the context of earlier, numerical and
experimental work.Comment: 21 pages, latex file with 5 figure
The N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist CPP alters synapse and spine structure and impairs long-term potentiation and long-term depression induced morphological plasticity in dentate gyrus of the awake rat
Long-term morphological synaptic changes associated with homosynaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) and heterosynaptic long-term depression (LTD) in vivo, in awake adult rats were analyzed using three-dimensional (3-D) reconstructions of electron microscope images of ultrathin serial sections from the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus. For the first time in morphological studies, the specificity of the effects of LTP and LTD on both spine and synapse ultrastructure was determined using an N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist CPP (3-[(R)-2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl]-propyl-1-phosphonic acid). There were no differences in synaptic density 24 h after LTP or LTD induction, and CPP alone had no effect on synaptic density. LTP increased significantly the proportion of mushroom spines, whereas LTD increased the proportion of thin spines, and both LTP and LTD decreased stubby spine number. Both LTP and LTD increased significantly spine head evaginations (spinules) into synaptic boutons and CPP blocked these changes. Synaptic boutons were smaller after LTD, indicating a pre-synaptic effect. Interestingly, CPP alone decreased bouton and mushroom spine volumes, as well as post-synaptic density (PSD) volume of mushroom spines.These data show similarities, but also some clear differences, between the effects of LTP and LTD on spine and synaptic morphology. Although CPP blocks both LTP and LTD, and impairs most morphological changes in spines and synapses, CPP alone was shown to exert effects on aspects of spine and synaptic structure
Generation of atom-photon entangled states in atomic Bose-Einstein condensate via electromagnetically induced transparency
In this paper, we present a method to generate continuous-variable-type
entangled states between photons and atoms in atomic Bose-Einstein condensate
(BEC). The proposed method involves an atomic BEC with three internal states, a
weak quantized probe laser and a strong classical coupling laser, which form a
three-level Lambda-shaped BEC system. We consider a situation where the BEC is
in electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) with the coupling laser being
much stronger than the probe laser. In this case, the upper and intermediate
levels are unpopulated, so that their adiabatic elimination enables an
effective two-mode model involving only the atomic field at the lowest internal
level and the quantized probe laser field. Atom-photon quantum entanglement is
created through laser-atom and inter-atomic interactions, and two-photon
detuning. We show how to generate atom-photon entangled coherent states and
entangled states between photon (atom) coherent states and atom-(photon-)
macroscopic quantum superposition (MQS) states, and between photon-MQS and
atom-MQS states.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
Monte-Carlo study of scaling exponents of rough surfaces and correlated percolation
We calculate the scaling exponents of the two-dimensional correlated
percolation cluster's hull and unscreened perimeter. Correlations are
introduced through an underlying correlated random potential, which is used to
define the state of bonds of a two-dimensional bond percolation model.
Monte-Carlo simulations are run and the values of the scaling exponents are
determined as functions of the Hurst exponent H in the range -0.75 <= H <= 1.
The results confirm the conjectures of earlier studies
Reverse Monte Carlo modeling of amorphous silicon
An implementation of the Reverse Monte Carlo algorithm is presented for the
study of amorphous tetrahedral semiconductors. By taking into account a number
of constraints that describe the tetrahedral bonding geometry along with the
radial distribution function, we construct a model of amorphous silicon using
the reverse monte carlo technique. Starting from a completely random
configuration, we generate a model of amorphous silicon containing 500 atoms
closely reproducing the experimental static structure factor and bond angle
distribution and in improved agreement with electronic properties. Comparison
is made to existing Reverse Monte Carlo models, and the importance of suitable
constraints beside experimental data is stressed.Comment: 6 pages, 4 PostScript figure
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