1,033 research outputs found
A biostratigraphical framework for geological correlation of the Middle Devonian strata in the Moray-Ness Basin Project area
This report presents an up dated biostratigraphical framework for correlation of the Middle Devonian strata exposed in onshore areas on the western margin of the Orcadian Basin. It focuses on the fossil fish faunas from Caithness and Orkney. The research has involved taxonomical and stratigraphical revision of key fossil fish specimens and whole assemblages held in museums and in private collections , together with targeted new field collecting in Caithness and on Orkney. This has enabled a robust pattern of distribution to be established for indicator species, based on faunas identified from large collections of individual species, so that presence/absence data are of significance in determining a more fully representative stratigraphical range for each species than was available hitherto.
This approach has enabled detailed biostratigraphical correlations to be made within the Middle Devonian of the Reay area and on adjacent ground. It also provides new constraints on the regional biostratigraphical correlation between the flagstone sequences in Caithness and on Orkney. The importance of fossil fish assemblages that have been examined in collections from the Middle Devonian on the southern margin of the Moray Firth are currently being re-evaluated in terms of their ability to constrain new and existing regional and local stratigraphical correlations. The eventual aim of this work is to provide a consistent means of correlating all of the onshore Middle Devonian strata in the Moray-Ness Project area
Percolation in the classical blockmodel
Classical blockmodel is known as the simplest among models of networks with
community structure. The model can be also seen as an extremely simply example
of interconnected networks. For this reason, it is surprising that the
percolation transition in the classical blockmodel has not been examined so
far, although the phenomenon has been studied in a variety of much more
complicated models of interconnected and multiplex networks. In this paper we
derive the self-consistent equation for the size the global percolation cluster
in the classical blockmodel. We also find the condition for percolation
threshold which characterizes the emergence of the giant component. We show
that the discussed percolation phenomenon may cause unexpected problems in a
simple optimization process of the multilevel network construction. Numerical
simulations confirm the correctness of our theoretical derivations.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Antibiotic Treatment of Suspected and Confirmed Neonatal Sepsis Within 28 Days of Birth: A Retrospective Analysis
Neonatal sepsis causes significant mortality and morbidity worldwide. Diagnosis is usually confirmed via blood culture results. Blood culture sepsis confirmation can take days and suffer from contamination and false negatives. Empiric therapy with antibiotics is common. This study aims to retrospectively describe and compare treatments of blood culture-confirmed and unconfirmed, but suspected, sepsis within the University of Utah Hospital system. Electronic health records were obtained from 1,248 neonates from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2017. Sepsis was categorized into early-onset (≤3 days of birth, EOS) and late-onset (\u3e3 and ≤28 days of birth, LOS) and categorized as culture-confirmed sepsis if a pathogen was cultured from the blood and unconfirmed if all blood cultures were negative with no potentially contaminated blood cultures. Of 1,010 neonates in the EOS cohort, 23 (2.3%) were culture-confirmed, most with Escherichia coli (42%). Treatment for unconfirmed EOS lasted an average of 6.1 days with primarily gentamicin and ampicillin while confirmed patients were treated for an average of 12.3 days with increased administration of cefotaxime. Of 311 neonates in the LOS cohort, 62 (20%) were culture-confirmed, most culturing coagulase negative staphylococci (46%). Treatment courses for unconfirmed LOS lasted an average of 7.8 days while confirmed patients were treated for an average of 11.4 days, these patients were primarily treated with vancomycin and gentamicin. The use of cefotaxime for unconfirmed EOS and LOS increased throughout the study period. Cefotaxime administration was associated with an increase in neonatal mortality, even when potential confounding factors were added to the logistic regression model (adjusted odds ratio 2.8, 95%CI [1.21, 6.88], p = 0.02). These results may not be generalized to all hospitals and the use of cefotaxime may be a surrogate for other factors. Given the low rate of blood culture positive diagnosis and the high exposure rate of empiric antibiotics, this patient population might benefit from improved diagnostics with reevaluation of antibiotic use guideline
Percolation model for structural phase transitions in LiHIO mixed crystals
A percolation model is proposed to explain the structural phase transitions
found in LiHIO mixed crystals as a function of the
concentration parameter . The percolation thresholds are obtained from Monte
Carlo simulations on the specific lattices occupied by lithium atoms and
hydrogen bonds. The theoretical results strongly suggest that percolating
lithium vacancies and hydrogen bonds are indeed responsible for the solid
solution observed in the experimental range .Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Virtual (computed) fractional flow reserve: future role in acute coronary syndromes
The current management of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) is with an invasive strategy to guide treatment. However, identifying the lesions which are physiologically significant can be challenging. Non-invasive imaging is generally not appropriate or timely in the acute setting, so the decision is generally based upon visual assessment of the angiogram, supplemented in a small minority by invasive pressure wire studies using fractional flow reserve (FFR) or related indices. Whilst pressure wire usage is slowly increasing, it is not feasible in many vessels, patients and situations. Limited evidence for the use of FFR in non-ST elevation (NSTE) ACS suggests a 25% change in management, compared with traditional assessment, with a shift from more to less extensive revascularisation. Virtual (computed) FFR (vFFR), which uses a 3D model of the coronary arteries constructed from the invasive angiogram, and application of the physical laws of fluid flow, has the potential to be used more widely in this situation. It is less invasive, fast and can be integrated into catheter laboratory software. For severe lesions, or mild disease, it is probably not required, but it could improve the management of moderate disease in 'real time' for patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS), and in bystander disease in ST elevation myocardial infarction. Its practicability and impact in the acute setting need to be tested, but the underpinning science and potential benefits for rapid and streamlined decision-making are enticing
Predicting Missing Links via Local Information
Missing link prediction of networks is of both theoretical interest and
practical significance in modern science. In this paper, we empirically
investigate a simple framework of link prediction on the basis of node
similarity. We compare nine well-known local similarity measures on six real
networks. The results indicate that the simplest measure, namely common
neighbors, has the best overall performance, and the Adamic-Adar index performs
the second best. A new similarity measure, motivated by the resource allocation
process taking place on networks, is proposed and shown to have higher
prediction accuracy than common neighbors. It is found that many links are
assigned same scores if only the information of the nearest neighbors is used.
We therefore design another new measure exploited information of the next
nearest neighbors, which can remarkably enhance the prediction accuracy.Comment: For International Workshop: "The Physics Approach To Risk:
Agent-Based Models and Networks", http://intern.sg.ethz.ch/cost-p10
Measurement of W Polarisation at LEP
The three different helicity states of W bosons produced in the reaction e+
e- -> W+ W- -> l nu q q~ at LEP are studied using leptonic and hadronic W
decays. Data at centre-of-mass energies \sqrt s = 183-209 GeV are used to
measure the polarisation of W bosons, and its dependence on the W boson
production angle. The fraction of longitudinally polarised W bosons is measured
to be 0.218 \pm 0.027 \pm 0.016 where the first uncertainty is statistical and
the second systematic, in agreement with the Standard Model expectation
Search for Anomalous Couplings in the Higgs Sector at LEP
Anomalous couplings of the Higgs boson are searched for through the processes
e^+ e^- -> H gamma, e^+ e^- -> e^+ e^- H and e^+ e^- -> HZ. The mass range 70
GeV < m_H < 190 GeV is explored using 602 pb^-1 of integrated luminosity
collected with the L3 detector at LEP at centre-of-mass energies
sqrt(s)=189-209 GeV. The Higgs decay channels H -> ffbar, H -> gamma gamma, H
-> Z\gamma and H -> WW^(*) are considered and no evidence is found for
anomalous Higgs production or decay. Limits on the anomalous couplings d, db,
Delta(g1z), Delta(kappa_gamma) and xi^2 are derived as well as limits on the H
-> gamma gamma and H -> Z gamma decay rates
Measurement of W Polarisation at LEP
The three different helicity states of W bosons produced in the reaction e+
e- -> W+ W- -> l nu q q~ at LEP are studied using leptonic and hadronic W
decays. Data at centre-of-mass energies \sqrt s = 183-209 GeV are used to
measure the polarisation of W bosons, and its dependence on the W boson
production angle. The fraction of longitudinally polarised W bosons is measured
to be 0.218 \pm 0.027 \pm 0.016 where the first uncertainty is statistical and
the second systematic, in agreement with the Standard Model expectation
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