On possibility of measurement of the electron beam energy using absorption of radiation by electrons in a magnetic field

The possibility of the precise measurement of the electron beam energy using absorption of radiation by electrons in a static and homogeneous magnetic field in a range up to a few hundred GeV energies, was considered in [1]. With the purpose of experimental checking of this method in a range of several tens MeV energies, the possibility of measurement of absolute energy of the electron beam energy with relative accuracy up to 10^{-4} is examined in details.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure

Kuiper belt analogues in nearby M-type planet-host systems

We present the results of a Herschel survey of 21 late-type stars that host planets discovered by the radial velocity technique. The aims were to discover new discs in these systems and to search for any correlation between planet presence and disc properties. In addition to the known disc around GJ 581, we report the discovery of two new discs, in the GJ 433 and GJ 649 systems. Our sample therefore yields a disc detection rate of 14 per cent, higher than the detection rate of 1.2 per cent among our control sample of DEBRIS M-type stars with 98 per cent confidence. Further analysis however shows that the disc sensitivity in the control sample is about a factor of two lower in fractional luminosity than for our survey, lowering the significance of any correlation between planet presence and disc brightness below 98 per cent. In terms of their specific architectures, the disc around GJ 433 lies at a radius somewhere between 1 and 30 au. The disc around GJ 649 lies somewhere between 6 and 30 au, but is marginally resolved and appears more consistent with an edge-on inclination. In both cases the discs probably lie well beyond where the known planets reside (0.06–1.1 au), but the lack of radial velocity sensitivity at larger separations allows for unseen Saturn–mass planets to orbit out to ~5 au, and more massive planets beyond 5 au. The layout of these M-type systems appears similar to Sun-like star + disc systems with low-mass planets.This work was supported by the European Union through ERC grant number 279973 (GMK & MCW)

Spatial Interpolation of Air Pollutants in Bangalore: 2010-2013

Air pollutants and their ill effects on the environment and health of populations are well known. However for informed decisions on the protection of the health of populations from elevated levels of air pollution, an understanding of spatial-temporal variance of air pollutant patterns is necessary. Bangalore and other similar developing cities do not have an adequate number of fixed monitoring stations that could provide a complete coverage of the air pollution levels for the entire city. This can be overcome by using geospatial interpolation techniques that provide a complete coverage of the levels of pollutants. The aim of this study is to locate sample points, characterise distribution patterns, map air pollutant distributions using interpolation techniques, highlight areas exceeding standard levels and in doing so determine spatial and temporal patterns of the levels of air pollutants. An air pollution map indicating levels of the variability of the pollutants will aid in the analysis of effects on health in populations due to elevated levels of pollutants

Air Pollution in Bangalore, India: A Six-Year Trend and Health Implication Analysis

Air pollution is increasingly becoming a global concern and is believed to be amongst the leading causes of death in the world today. Developing countries, with rapidly growing economies, are struggling between the focus on economic development and curbing air pollution emissions. Bangalore is one of India’s fastest growing metropolises and, although benefiting economically due to its rapid development, has a rapidly deteriorating environment. This paper provides a critical analysis of the air pollution trend in the city over the period 2005-2011 at 6 specific locations where measurements have been consistently recorded. It also discusses the potential health implications pertaining to exceeding levels of pollutants where these are applicable

Cryo-EM Structure and Molecular Dynamics Analysis of the Fluoroquinolone Resistant Mutant of the AcrB Transporter from Salmonella.

Salmonella is an important genus of Gram-negative pathogens, treatment of which has become problematic due to increases in antimicrobial resistance. This is partly attributable to the overexpression of tripartite efflux pumps, particularly the constitutively expressed AcrAB-TolC. Despite its clinical importance, the structure of the Salmonella AcrB transporter remained unknown to-date, with much of our structural understanding coming from the Escherichia coli orthologue. Here, by taking advantage of the styrene maleic acid (SMA) technology to isolate membrane proteins with closely associated lipids, we report the very first experimental structure of Salmonella AcrB transporter. Furthermore, this novel structure provides additional insight into mechanisms of drug efflux as it bears the mutation (G288D), originating from a clinical isolate of Salmonella Typhimurium presenting an increased resistance to fluoroquinolones. Experimental data are complemented by state-of-the-art molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on both the wild type and G288D variant of Salmonella AcrB. Together, these reveal several important differences with respect to the E. coli protein, providing insights into the role of the G288D mutation in increasing drug efflux and extending our understanding of the mechanisms underlying antibiotic resistance

Safety of selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) with yttrium-90 microspheres combined with systemic anticancer agents: expert consensus

Selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) with microspheres labelled with the β-emitter yttrium-90 (Y-90) enables targeted delivery of radiation to hepatic tumors. SIRT is primarily used to treat inoperable primary or metastatic liver tumors. Eligible patients have usually been exposed to a variety of systemic anticancer therapies, including cytotoxic agents, targeted biologics, immunotherapy and peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT). All these treatments have potential interactions with SIRT; however, robust evidence on the safety of these potential combinations is lacking. This paper provides current clinical experiences and expert consensus guidelines for the use of SIRT in combination with the anticancer treatment agents likely to be encountered in clinical practice. It was agreed by the expert panel that precautions need to be taken with certain drugs, but that, in general, systemic therapies do not necessarily have to be stopped to perform SIRT. The authors recommend stopping vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors 4-6 weeks before SIRT, and restart after the patient has recovered from the procedure. It may also be prudent to stop potent radiosensitizers such as gemcitabine therapy 4 weeks before SIRT, and restart treatment at least 2‒4 weeks later. Data from phase III studies combining SIRT with fluorouracil (5FU) or folinic acid/5FU/oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) suggest that hematological toxicity is more common from the combination than it is from chemotherapy without SIRT. There is no evidence to suggest that chemotherapy increases SIRT-specific gastro-intestinal or liver toxicities

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of the Effects of Air Pollution Hazards on Cardiovascular Health Outcomes in Bangalore, India

Recent research has established a link between exposure to certain pollutants and exacerbation or onset of cardiac diseases. Diseases have a spatial context and the evolution of computer applications, such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS), has favoured the studies of environment and their effects on health and populations. To aid in understanding the extent of air pollution and cardiac diseases in the city of Bangalore (India), this research explores the data requirements and GIS analysis tools that could be used to undertake a spatio-temporal analysis by developing a web based GIS application. The ultimate goal is to identify hotspots of air pollution, explore the relationships between environmental pollution hazards and cardiovascular diseases, integrate the available data to enable sharing among decision makers and disseminate information

Collaboration with general practitioners: preferences of medical specialists – a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Collaboration between general practitioners (GPs) and specialists has been the focus of many collaborative care projects during the past decade. Unfortunately, quite a number of these projects failed. This raises the question of what motivates medical specialists to initiate and continue participating with GPs in new collaborative care models. The following question is addressed in this study: What motivates medical specialists to initiate and sustain new models for collaborating with GPs? METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with eighteen medical specialists in the province of Groningen, in the North of The Netherlands. The sampling criteria were age, gender, type of hospital in which they were practicing, and specialty. The interviews were recorded, fully transcribed, and analysed by three researchers working independently. The resulting motivational factors were grouped into categories. RESULTS: 'Teaching GPs' and 'regulating patient flow' (referrals) appeared to dominate when the motivational factors were considered. In addition, specialists want to develop relationships with the GPs on a more personal level. Most specialists believe that there is not much they can learn from GPs. 'Lack of time', 'no financial compensation', and 'no support from colleagues' were considered to be the main concerns to establishing collaborative care practices. Additionally, projects were often experienced as too complex and time consuming whereas guidelines were experienced as too restrictive. CONCLUSION: Specialists are particularly interested in collaborating because the GP is the gatekeeper for access to secondary health care resources. Specialists feel that they are able to teach the GPs something, but they do not feel that they have anything to learn from the GPs. With respect to professional expertise, therefore, specialists do not consider GPs as equals. Once personal relationships with the GPs have been established, an informal network with incidental professional contact seems to be sufficient to satisfy the collaborative needs of the specialist. The concerns seem to outweigh any positive motivational forces to developing new models of collaborative practice

Electronic Structure Calculations with LDA+DMFT

The LDA+DMFT method is a very powerful tool for gaining insight into the physics of strongly correlated materials. It combines traditional ab-initio density-functional techniques with the dynamical mean-field theory. The core aspects of the method are (i) building material-specific Hubbard-like many-body models and (ii) solving them in the dynamical mean-field approximation. Step (i) requires the construction of a localized one-electron basis, typically a set of Wannier functions. It also involves a number of approximations, such as the choice of the degrees of freedom for which many-body effects are explicitly taken into account, the scheme to account for screening effects, or the form of the double-counting correction. Step (ii) requires the dynamical mean-field solution of multi-orbital generalized Hubbard models. Here central is the quantum-impurity solver, which is also the computationally most demanding part of the full LDA+DMFT approach. In this chapter I will introduce the core aspects of the LDA+DMFT method and present a prototypical application.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures. Chapter of "Many-Electron Approaches in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics: A Multidisciplinary View", eds. V. Bach and L. Delle Site, Springer 201