3,820 research outputs found
On the General Analytical Solution of the Kinematic Cosserat Equations
Based on a Lie symmetry analysis, we construct a closed form solution to the
kinematic part of the (partial differential) Cosserat equations describing the
mechanical behavior of elastic rods. The solution depends on two arbitrary
analytical vector functions and is analytical everywhere except a certain
domain of the independent variables in which one of the arbitrary vector
functions satisfies a simple explicitly given algebraic relation. As our main
theoretical result, in addition to the construction of the solution, we proof
its generality. Based on this observation, a hybrid semi-analytical solver for
highly viscous two-way coupled fluid-rod problems is developed which allows for
the interactive high-fidelity simulations of flagellated microswimmers as a
result of a substantial reduction of the numerical stiffness.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure
Intravenous lipid emulsion for treatment of local anesthetic toxicity
M Caroline Kosh, April D Miller, Jill E Michels, , Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences, South Carolina College of Pharmacy, University of South Carolina Campus, Columbia, South Carolina, USADate of Preparation: 14th July 2010 Conflict of interest: None declaredClinical question: Is intravenous lipid emulsion a safe and effective therapy for the reversal and treatment of local anesthetic toxicity?Results: Systematic reviews, human case reports, and experimental animal studies have demonstrated the efficacy of intravenous lipid emulsion therapy in successfully reversing cardiac arrhythmias, cardiac arrest, and cardiac collapse seen with severe systemic local anesthetic toxicity. There are fewer data to support treatment of neurologic toxicities associated with local anesthetics.Implementation: Intravenous lipid emulsion 20% should be available whenever patients receive large doses of local anesthetics in operating rooms and emergency departments. Various dosing protocols have been published in the medical literature. Although the dosing protocols are based on low-level evidence, a lack of major adverse events makes lipid emulsion an appropriate therapy for treating cardiotoxic symptoms induced by local anesthetics.Keywords: intravenous lipid emulsion, local anesthetic
Role of Solvent Compatibility in the Phase Behavior of Binary Solutions of Weakly Associating Multivalent Polymers
[Image: see text] Condensate formation of biopolymer solutions, prominently those of various intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), is often driven by “sticky” interactions between associating residues, multivalently present along the polymer backbone. Using a ternary mean-field “stickers-and-spacers” model, we demonstrate that if sticker association is of the order of a few times the thermal energy, a delicate balance between specific binding and nonspecific polymer–solvent interactions gives rise to a particularly rich ternary phase behavior under physiological circumstances. For a generic system represented by a solution comprising multiassociative scaffold and client polymers, the difference in solvent compatibility between the polymers modulates the nature of isothermal liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) between associative and segregative. The calculations reveal regimes of dualistic phase behavior, where both types of LLPS occur within the same phase diagram, either associated with the presence of multiple miscibility gaps or a flip in the slope of the tie-lines belonging to a single coexistence region
Equity in utilization of antiretroviral therapy for HIV-infected people in South Africa: a systematic review
INTRODUCTION: About half a million people in South Africa are deprived of antiretroviral therapy (ART), and there is little systematic knowledge on who they are – e.g. by severity of disease, sex, or socio-economic status (SES). We performed a systematic review to determine the current quantitative evidence-base on equity in utilization of ART among HIV-infected people in South Africa. METHOD: We conducted a literature search based on the Cochrane guidelines. A study was included if it compared for different groups of HIV infected people (by sex, age, severity of disease, area of living, SES, marital status, ethnicity, religion and/or sexual orientation (i.e. equity criteria)) the number initiating/adhering to ART with the number who did not. We considered ART utilization inequitable for a certain criterion (e.g. sex) if between groups (e.g. men versus women) significant differences were reported in ART initiation/adherence. RESULTS: Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. For sex, 2 out of 10 studies that investigated this criterion found that men are less likely than women to utilize ART, while the other 8 found no differences. For age, 4 out of 8 studies found inequities and reported less utilization for younger people. For area of living, 3 out of 4 studies showed that those living in rural areas or certain provinces have less access and 2 out of 6 studies looking at SES found that people with lower SES have less access. One study which looked at the marital status found that those who are married are less likely to utilize ART. For severity of disease, 5 out of 6 studies used more than one outcome measure for disease stage and reported within their study contradicting results. One of the studies reported inconclusive findings for ethnicity and no study had looked at religion and sexual orientation. CONCLUSION: It seems that men, young people, those living in certain provinces or rural areas, people who are unemployed or with a low educational level, and those being unmarried have less access to ART. As studies stem from different contexts and use different methods conclusions should be taken with caution
The role of emotion regulation in childhood obesity : implications for prevention and treatment
Stress and negative emotions pose a major threat to public health, by increasing the risk of obesity. Since the management process for emotions (emotion regulation; ER) is developed in childhood, we present a novel conceptual framework model for the role of ER in the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity. A narrative review of the literature by electronic database search (MEDLINE, Web of Knowledge and Scopus) was conducted of observational and interventional/experimental literature on ER and obesity and the underlying concepts. We also present an overview of ER intervention techniques. Our model indicates that childhood ER is a link between stress and obesity. Stress along with ineffective ER leads to abnormal cortisol patterns, emotional eating, sedentary lifestyle, reduction of physical activity, and sleep problems. Simultaneously, a healthy lifestyle could show benefits on ER and in developing adaptive ER strategies. In the development of obesity and ER, parents also play a role. By contrast, effective ER skills decrease obesity-related unhealthy behaviour and enhance protective factors, which boost health. The literature contains some observational studies of children but very few intervention studies, most of which are pilot or on-going studies. In conclusion, encouraging effective ER could be a useful new approach for combating and treating childhood obesity. Future ER intervention studies are needed to confirm the validity of this model in children
WISER Deliverable D3.3-2: The importance of invertebrate spatial and temporal variation for ecological status classification for European lakes
European lakes are affected by many human induced disturbances. In principle, ecological
theories predict that the structure and functioning of benthic invertebrate assemblage (one of
the Biological Quality Elements following the Water Framework Directive, WFD
terminology) change in response to the level of disturbances, making this biological element
suitable for assessing the status and management of lake ecosystems. In practice, to set up
assessment systems based on invertebrates, we need to distiguish community changes that are
related to human pressures from those that are inherent natural variability. This task is
complicated by the fact that invertebrate communities inhabiting the littoral and the profundal
zones of lakes are constrained by different factors and respond unevenly to distinct human
disturbances. For example it is not clear yet how the invertebrates assemblages respond to
watershed and shoreline alterations, nor the relative importance of spatial and temporal
factors on assemblage dynamics and relative bioindicator values of taxa, the habitat
constraints on species traits and other taxonomic and methodological limitations.
The current lack of knowledge of basic features of invertebrate temporal and spatial variations
is limiting the fulfillment of the EU-wide intercalibration of lake ecological quality
assessment systems in Europe, and thus compromising the basis for setting the environmental
objectives as required by the WFD. The aim of this deliverable is to provide a contribution
towards the understanding of basic sources of spatial and temporal variation of lake
invertebrate assemblages. The report is structured around selected case studies, manly
involving the analysis of existing datasets collated within WISER. The case studies come
from different European lake types in the Northern, Central, Alpine and Mediterranean
regions. All chapters have an obvious applied objective and our aim is to provide to those
dealing with WFD implementation at various levels useful information to consider when
designing monitoring programs and / or invertebrate-based classification systems
Structure of hard-hypersphere fluids in odd dimensions
The structural properties of single component fluids of hard hyperspheres in
odd space dimensionalities are studied with an analytical approximation
method that generalizes the Rational Function Approximation earlier introduced
in the study of hard-sphere fluids [S. B. Yuste and A. Santos, Phys. Rev. A
{\bf 43}, 5418 (1991)]. The theory makes use of the exact form of the radial
distribution function to first order in density and extends it to finite
density by assuming a rational form for a function defined in Laplace space,
the coefficients being determined by simple physical requirements. Fourier
transform in terms of reverse Bessel polynomials constitute the mathematical
framework of this approximation, from which an analytical expression for the
static structure factor is obtained. In its most elementary form, the method
recovers the solution of the Percus-Yevick closure to the Ornstein-Zernike
equation for hyperspheres at odd dimension. The present formalism allows one to
go beyond by yielding solutions with thermodynamic consistency between the
virial and compressibility routes to any desired equation of state. Excellent
agreement with available computer simulation data at and is
obtained. As a byproduct of this study, an exact and explicit polynomial
expression for the intersection volume of two identical hyperspheres in
arbitrary odd dimensions is given.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures; v2: new references added plus minor changes; to
be published in PR
- …