5,737 research outputs found
Coefficient of normal restitution of viscous particles and cooling rate of granular gases
We investigate the cooling rate of a gas of inelastically interacting
particles. When we assume velocity dependent coefficients of restitution the
material cools down slower than with constant restitution. This behavior might
have large influence to clustering and structure formation processes.Comment: 3 figures, Phys. Rev. E (in press
The Gender Pain Gap: gender inequalities in pain across 19 European countries
Aims: Chronic pain is increasingly considered to be an international public health issue â but gender differences in chronic pain in Europe are under-examined. This work aimed to examine gender inequalities in pain across Europe. Methods: Data for 27,552 men and women aged 25-74 years in 19 European countries were taken from the social determinants of health module of the European Social Survey (2014). Inequalities in reporting pain were measured by means of adjusted rate differences (ARD) and relative adjusted rate risks (ARR). Results: At the pooled pan-European level, a greater proportion of women (62.3%) reported pain than men (55.5%) (ARD 5.5% [95% CI 4.1%, 6.9%], ARR 1.10 [95% CI 1.08, 1.13]). These inequalities were greatest for back/neck pain (ARD 5.8% [95% CI 4.4%, 7.1%], ARR 1.15 [95% CI 1.12, 1.19]), but were also significant for hand/arm pain (ARD 4.6% [95% CI 3.5%, 5.7%], ARR 1.24 [95% CI 1.17, 1.30]), and foot/leg pain (ARD 2.6% [95% CI 1.5%, 3.8%], ARR 1.12 [95% CI 1.07, 1.18]). There was considerable crossânational variation in gender pain inequalities across European countries. Conclusions: Significant gender pain inequalities exist across Europe whereby women experience more pain than men; this was most pronounced for back/neck pain. The extent of the gender pain gap varies by country. The gender pain gap is a public health concern, and should be considered in future prevention and management strategies
A Highly Ordered Faraday-Rotation Structure in the Interstellar Medium
We describe a Faraday-rotation structure in the Interstellar Medium detected
through polarimetric imaging at 1420 MHz from the Canadian Galactic Plane
Survey (CGPS). The structure, at l=91.8, b=-2.5, has an extent of ~2 degree,
within which polarization angle varies smoothly over a range of ~100 degree.
Polarized intensity also varies smoothly, showing a central peak within an
outer shell. This region is in sharp contrast to its surroundings, where
low-level chaotic polarization structure occurs on arcminute scales. The
Faraday-rotation structure has no counterpart in radio total intensity, and is
unrelated to known objects along the line of sight, which include a Lynds
Bright Nebula, LBN 416, and the star cluster M39 (NGC7092). It is interpreted
as a smooth enhancement of electron density. The absence of a counterpart,
either in optical emission or in total intensity, establishes a lower limit to
its distance. An upper limit is determined by the strong beam depolarization in
this direction. At a probable distance of 350 +/- 50 pc, the size of the object
is 10 pc, the enhancement of electron density is 1.7 cm-3, and the mass of
ionized gas is 23 M_sun. It has a very smooth internal magnetic field of
strength 3 microG, slightly enhanced above the ambient field. G91.8-2.5 is the
second such object to be discovered in the CGPS, and it seems likely that such
structures are common in the Magneto-Ionic Medium.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, ApJ accepte
Removal of Estrogenic Compounds from Water Via Energy Efficient Sequential Electrocoagulation-Electrooxidation
The purpose of this study was to investigate energy reduction using electrocoagulation (EC) followed by electrooxidation (EO) targeting initial removal of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) during EC and subsequent removal of estrogenic compounds in EO. EC offers benefits over conventional coagulation such as in situ generation of coagulant but is not practical for removing estrogenic compounds. Advanced oxidation processes, including EO, can effectively remove micropollutants such as estrogenic compounds but are hindered by the presence of bulk organic matter. This study investigated four estrogenic compounds from the U.S. EPA\u27s Contaminant Candidate List: estrone (E1), 17ÎČ-estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), and 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2). First, EC (iron electrodes) was employed to remove humic acid and improve downstream removal of estrogenic compounds while reducing overall energy consumption in EO (boron-doped diamond electrodes). The sequential EC and EO system effectively reduced overall electrical energy per order (EEO) by more than half compared with EO alone for each estrogenic compound. The system also effectively removed humic acid and estrogenic compounds. An EC current density of 8.88âmA/cm2 and electrolysis time of 8âmin with a flocculation stir rate of 40ârpm (Gâ=â23âsâ1) achieved the greatest DOC and UV-VIS254 removal. EO treatment achieved the highest estrogenic compound removal at a current density of 22.2âmA/cm2. Initial humic acid sodium salt concentration (0â60âmg/L C) had an effect on EC iron dose and estrogenic compound removal. The EEO for EC-EO treatments was lower than EC alone, EO alone, UV photolysis, UV photocatalysis, and ozone but was higher than a photocatalytic reactor membrane and UV/H2O2. Overall, the EC-EO system was effective at removing bulk organic matter during EC and estrogenic compounds during EO. EC-EO reduced overall energy demand, indicating that this system should be developed further as an advanced technology that could efficiently remove micropollutants
Systematic study of X-ray Cavities in the brightest galaxy of the Draco Constellation NGC 6338
We present results based on the systematic analysis of currently available
Chandra archive data on the brightest galaxy in the Draco constellation NGC
6338, in order to investigate the properties of the X-ray cavities. In the
central ~6 kpc, at least a two and possibly three, X-ray cavities are evident.
All these cavities are roughly of ellipsoidal shapes and show a decrement in
the surface brightness of several tens of percent. In addition to these
cavities, a set of X-ray bright filaments are also noticed which are spatially
coincident with the H{\alpha} filaments over an extent of 15 kpc. The H{\alpha}
emission line filaments are perpendicular to the X- ray cavities. Spectroscopic
analysis of the hot gas in the filaments and cavities reveal that the X-ray
filaments are cooler than the gas contained in the cavities. The emission line
ratios and the extended, asymmetric nature of the H{\alpha} emission line
filaments seen in this system require a harder ionizing source than that
produced by star formation and/or young, massive stars. Radio emission maps
derived from the analysis of 1.4 GHz VLA FIRST survey data failed to show any
association of these X-ray cavities with radio jets, however, the cavities are
filled by radio emission. The total power of the cavities is 17\times 1042 erg
s-1 and the ratio of the radio luminosity to cavity power is ~ 10-4, implying
that most of the jet power is mechanical.Comment: The paper contains 12 figures and 3 tables, Accepted 2011 December 7
for publication in MNRA
The Joint Vienna Institute
"How does the intellectual role played by international training organisations fit into the contemporary architecture of global governance? The international diffusion of economic policy ideas represents one of the core dimensions of contemporary global governance, which has generated heated controversy in recent years with international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank castigated for championing a âone-size-fits-allâ brand of neoliberal economic reform. Yet while substantial scholarly attention has focused on analysing the effects of the formal compliance mechanisms that the IMF and the World Bank rely on to implement neoliberal policy changes in borrowing countries, such as loan conditionality, less attention has been devoted to exploring the intermediate avenues through which neoliberal ideas travel from global governance institutions to national governance contexts. This article aims to address this gap in the study of contemporary global governance and neoliberal policy diffusion through critically examining the evolving role of the Joint Vienna Institute (JVI), an international training organisation set up after the end of the Cold War to transmit global âbest practiceâ economic policy ideas to national officials in post-communist economies.
Shock-Like Dynamics of Inelastic Gases
We provide a simple physical picture which suggests that the asymptotic
dynamics of inelastic gases in one dimension is independent of the degree of
inelasticity. Statistical characteristics, including velocity fluctuations and
the velocity distribution are identical to those of a perfectly inelastic
sticky gas, which in turn is described by the inviscid Burgers equation.
Asymptotic predictions of this continuum theory, including the t^{-2/3}
temperature decay and the development of discontinuities in the velocity
profile, are verified numerically for inelastic gases.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, revte
Contemporary outcomes of continuous-flow biventricular assist devices.
BACKGROUND: Significant right ventricular failure (RVF) complicating left ventricular assist device (LVAD) placement has been reported at 10â30%. Although primarily indicated for left ventricular failure, ventricular assist devices (VADs) have become utilized in a biventricular setup to combat right ventricular failure (RVF) following LVAD implantation. With the advent of continuous-flow LVADs (CF-LVADs) superseding their pulsatile predecessors, the shift towards CF-biventricular assist devices (CF-BiVADs) come with the prospect of improved outcomes over previous pulsatile BiVADs. We aim to review the literature and determine the outcomes of CF-BiVAD recipients. METHODS: A systematic review was performed to determine the outcomes of CF-BiVADs. Pre-operative demographics and device configuration data was collected. Primary outcomes evaluated were short-term survival, long-term survival, duration of support, and survival to transplant. Secondary outcomes evaluated included intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital length of stay (ICU-LOS and HLOS, respectively), pump thrombosis, pump exchange. Median and interquartile range was reported where appropriate. A major limitation was the likely overlap of cohorts across publications, which may have contributed to some selection bias. RESULTS: Of 1,282 screened, 12 publications were evaluated. Sample size ranged from 4 to 93 CF-BiVAD recipients, and follow-up ranged from 6 to 24 months. Mean age ranged from 34 to 52 years old. Forty-five percent of CF-BiVADs had right atrial (RA-) inflow cannulation, with the remaining being right ventricular (RV). Thirty-day survival was a median of 90% (IQR 82â97.8%) and 12-month survival was a median of 58.5% (IQR 47.5â62%). Where reported, rate of pump thrombosis (predominantly the right VAD) was a median of 31% (IQR 14â36%), although pump exchange was only 9% (IQR 1.5â12.5%). CONCLUSIONS: RVF post-LVAD implantation is a high morbidity and mortality complication. There is no on-label continuous-flow RVAD currently available. Thus, the modifications of LVADs for right ventricular support to combat pump thrombosis has resulted in various techniques. BiVAD recipients are predominantly transplant candidates, and complications of pump thrombosis and driveline infection whilst on wait-list are of great consequence. This study demonstrates the need for an on-label CF-BiVAD
Stochastic Resonance in a Dipole
We show that the dipole, a system usually proposed to model relaxation
phenomena, exhibits a maximum in the signal-to-noise ratio at a non-zero noise
level, thus indicating the appearance of stochastic resonance. The phenomenon
occurs in two different situations, i.e. when the minimum of the potential of
the dipole remains fixed in time and when it switches periodically between two
equilibrium points. We have also found that the signal-to-noise ratio has a
maximum for a certain value of the amplitude of the oscillating field.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, 6 PostScript figures available upon request; to
appear in Phys. Rev.
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