785 research outputs found
Basins of Attraction for Chimera States
Chimera states---curious symmetry-broken states in systems of identical
coupled oscillators---typically occur only for certain initial conditions. Here
we analyze their basins of attraction in a simple system comprised of two
populations. Using perturbative analysis and numerical simulation we evaluate
asymptotic states and associated destination maps, and demonstrate that basins
form a complex twisting structure in phase space. Understanding the basins'
precise nature may help in the development of control methods to switch between
chimera patterns, with possible technological and neural system applications.Comment: Please see Ancillary files for the 4 supplementary videos including
description (PDF
Evaluation of Infectious Disease Knowledge in Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Effects of Varying Durations of Training
Objective: The amount, origin, and resources of infectious disease
knowledge in the field ofobstetrics and gynecology were investigated. If this knowledge is
lacking, the exact length of the specific infectious disease training during residency should
be defined to meet the ever-increasing knowledge required in training
Chlamydia trachomatis: Management in Pregnancy
Chlamydia trachomatis is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) commonly diagnosed in pregnancy. C. trachomatis has been linked to several pregnancy complications including premature rupture of membranes (PROM), preterm labor and birth, low birth weight, intrauterine growth retardation, and postpartum endometritis. Infants born to mothers through an infected birth canal are at risk for acquiring C. trachomatis pneumonitis, conjunctivitis, and nasopharyngeal infection. The standard treatment of C. trachomatis in pregnancy is erythromycin. Recently, amoxicillin and clindamycin have been added as alternative regimens for those patients intolerant of erythromycin. This paper reviews the effectiveness and tolerance of the alternative regimens compared with erythromycin and the success of antepartum treatment of chlamydia in preventing the poor pregnancy outcome and neonatal morbidity associated with C. trachomatis
A Quick Mind with Letters Can Be a Slow Mind with Natural Scenes: Individual Differences in Attentional Selection
Background
Most people show a remarkable deficit in reporting the second of two targets (T2) when presented 200–500 ms after the first (T1), reflecting an ‘attentional blink’ (AB). However, there are large individual differences in the magnitude of the effect, with some people, referred to as ‘non-blinkers’, showing no such attentional restrictions.
Methodology/Principal Findings
Here we replicate these individual differences in a task requiring identification of two letters amongst digits, and show that the observed differences in T2 performance cannot be attributed to individual differences in T1 performance. In a second experiment, the generality of the non-blinkers' superior performance was tested using a task containing novel pictures rather than alphanumeric stimuli. A substantial AB was obtained in non-blinkers that was equivalent to that of ‘blinkers’.
Conclusion/Significance
The results suggest that non-blinkers employ an efficient target selection strategy that relies on well-learned alphabetic and numeric category sets.University of Groningen. Research School Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience
Preterm Labor and Maternal Hypoxia in Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia
Objective: We sought to determine if preterm labor is associated with the degree of maternal hypoxia
in pregnant women with community-acquired pneumonia but no other maternal diseases
Radio-frequency electromagnetic field exposure of Western honey bees
Radio-frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) can be absorbed in all living organisms, including Western Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera). This is an ecologically and economically important global insect species that is continuously exposed to environmental RF-EMFs. This exposure is studied numerically and experimentally in this manuscript. To this aim, numerical simulations using honey bee models, obtained using micro-CT scanning, were implemented to determine RF absorbed power as a function of frequency in the 0.6 to 120 GHz range. Five different models of honey bees were obtained and simulated: two workers, a drone, a larva, and a queen. The simulations were combined with in-situ measurements of environmental RF-EMF exposure near beehives in Belgium in order to estimate realistic exposure and absorbed power values for honey bees. Our analysis shows that a relatively small shift of 10% of environmental incident power density from frequencies below 3 GHz to higher frequencies will lead to a relative increase in absorbed power of a factor higher than 3
In Vitro Susceptibility Testing of Clinical Isolates of Chlamydia trachomatis
Penicillin class antibiotics have demonstrated varying degrees of in vivo and in vitro success when
tested against Chlamydia trachomatis. The activity of ampicillin-sulbactam, an agent commonly
utilized in the treatment of pelvic infections, was tested to ascertain if any antichlamydial activity is
present. Up to six endocervical isolates of C. trachomatis were tested against each of five antibiotics
including doxycycline, erythromycin, clindamycin, ampicillin/sulbactam, and sulbactam alone. McCoy cell monolayers were inoculated with high inclusion counts of 10,000–30,000 inclusion-forming
units (IFU) per coverslip, and exposed to each antibiotic. Up to nine subsequent antibiotic free
culture passes were performed to assess the viability of abnormal inclusions. Doxycycline, erythromycin,
and clindamycin achieved 100% eradication of inclusions at concentrations of 4.0, 2.0, and
1.0 µg/mL. Exposure to ampicillin/sulbactam resulted in a greater than 99% reduction in the inclusion
count at 32.0 µg/mL, while sulbactam by itself demonstrated considerably less activity. Abnormal
inclusions were noted only in the ampicillin/sulbactam exposed cells, and these, plus all inclusions
remaining following sublethal exposure to the other antibiotics, resulted in regrowth to control
levels in subsequent passes. Doxycycline and erythromycin demonstrated excellent activity. Clindamycin
and ampicillin/sulbactam also significantly reduced inclusion formation, and therefore may
provide adequate C. trachomatis coverage in patients receiving these antibiotics for pelvic infections
Presence of Chlamydia, Mycoplasma, Ureaplasma, and Other Bacteria in the Upper and Lower Genital Tracts of Fertile and Infertile Populations
Objective: The genital mycoplasmas (Mycoplasma hominis and
Ureaplasma urealyticum) and Chlamydia trachomatis have been implicated as possible
etiologic factors in infertility. Their role in patients with infertility needs to be further defined
Exposure of insects to radio-frequency electromagnetic fields from 2 to 120 GHz
Insects are continually exposed to Radio-Frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields at different frequencies. The range of frequencies used for wireless telecommunication systems will increase in the near future from below 6 GHz (2 G, 3 G, 4 G, and WiFi) to frequencies up to 120 GHz (5 G). This paper is the first to report the absorbed RF electromagnetic power in four different types of insects as a function of frequency from 2 GHz to 120 GHz. A set of insect models was obtained using novel Micro-CT (computer tomography) imaging. These models were used for the first time in finite-difference time-domain electromagnetic simulations. All insects showed a dependence of the absorbed power on the frequency. All insects showed a general increase in absorbed RF power at and above 6 GHz, in comparison to the absorbed RF power below 6 GHz. Our simulations showed that a shift of 10% of the incident power density to frequencies above 6 GHz would lead to an increase in absorbed power between 3-370%
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