Kinetic Energy Density Study of Some Representative Semilocal Kinetic Energy Functionals

There is a number of explicit kinetic energy density functionals for non-interacting electron systems that are obtained in terms of the electron density and its derivatives. These semilocal functionals have been widely used in the literature. In this work we present a comparative study of the kinetic energy density of these semilocal functionals, stressing the importance of the local behavior to assess the quality of the functionals. We propose a quality factor that measures the local differences between the usual orbital-based kinetic energy density distributions and the approximated ones, allowing to ensure if the good results obtained for the total kinetic energies with these semilocal functionals are due to their correct local performance or to error cancellations. We have also included contributions coming from the laplacian of the electron density to work with an infinite set of kinetic energy densities. For all the functionals but one we have found that their success in the evaluation of the total kinetic energy are due to global error cancellations, whereas the local behavior of their kinetic energy density becomes worse than that corresponding to the Thomas-Fermi functional.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Familial amyloidosis with polyneuropathy type 1 caused by transthyretin mutation Val50Met (Val30Met): 4 cases in a non-endemic area

Introduction: Transthyretin-related familial amyloid polyneuropathy (TTR-FAP) typically arises as an autonomic neuropathy primarily affecting small fibres and it occurs in adult patients in their second or third decades of life. It progresses rapidly and can lead to death in approximately 10 years. Other phenotypes have been described in non-endemic areas. Objectives and methods: We described 4 cases from the Spanish province of Guipuzcoa, a non-endemic area, to highlight the clinical variability of this disease. Patients and results: Three patients presented a late-onset form manifesting after the age of 50, featuring a predominantly motor polyneuropathy initially causing distal impairment of the lower limbs followed by the upper limbs. One patient suffered severe neuropathic pain. None showed signs of autonomic involvement. The fourth patient, of Portuguese descent, presented a typical form with onset in her thirties, neuropathic pain and dysautonomia. All patients carry the Val50Met mutation in the TTR gene. Conclusion: FAP is a pleomorphic disease even in patients carrying the same mutation. In non-endemic areas, its main form of presentation may resemble a predominantly motor polyneuropathy developing in the sixth decade of life with no signs of dysautonomia. Given this non-specific presentation and the widely available technical means of studying the TTR gene, we believe that the protocol for the aetiological diagnosis of any polyneuropathy should include genetic sequencing of TTR. (C) 2016 Sociedad Espanola de Neurologia. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U

Leverage, Asymmetric Information, Firm Value, and Cash Holdings in Indonesia

This research aimed to analysis the effect of leverage and asymmetry information on the firm value through cash holding as mediation variable. The populations of this research were all the firms which listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange since 2012 – 2015. Sample of this research was saturated sample and census, consisted 56 firms related the population criteria. This research used secondary data from the firm financial report through path analysis method. This research showed that leverage had negative effect on the cash holdings, asymmetry information had negative effect on the firm value through cash holding, and cash holding had negative effect on the firm value. With leverage and effect on cash holding can not affect the firm value, due to investor risk averse, investor risk seeker, and neutral investor have their own point of view in assessing the company. Cash holdings can lead to asymmetric information that can lead to agency conflict that can affect a company\u27s performance, so that indirectly, with the existence of asymmetry information had effect on the declining the firm value

Promoting sport and physical activity in Italy: A costeffectiveness analysis of seven innovative public health policies

Background. Inactive lifestyles are a key risk factor underpinning the development of many chronic diseases, yet more than half of the Italian population does not meet WHO thresholds for at least moderate physical activity. This study aims to make the economic case to upscale investments in policy actions to promote exercise and physical activity. Study design. Modelling-based cost-effectiveness analysis in Italy Methods. The study assesses the impact on health and healthcare expenditure of seven public health policies to promote exercise and physical activity against a business as usual scenario. Assessed policies include: promotion of active transport, workplace sedentarily interventions, investments in sports and recreation, mass media campaigns, prescription of physical activity in primary care, school-based interventions and mobile apps. Results. Public policies to promote exercise have the potential to improve population health and produce savings in healthcare expenditure. Assessed policies can avoid hundreds of cases of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes per year and tens of cases of cancer resulting in gains in DALYs in the order of thousands per year. In the medium-term, the vast majority of policies show excellent cost-effectiveness ratio, below internationally recognized thresholds. Conclusions. Investing in policies to promote active lifestyles is a good investment for Italy

Synthesis of Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes by Inductive Heating CCVD

The CCVD syntheses of MWCNTs from acetylene on Fe:Co:CaCO 3 and Fe:Co:CaO were performed using two different methods of heating: outer furnace and inductive heating. The comparative analysis of the MWCNTs obtained by the two methods show that the tubes grown in inductive heating have smaller diameters (5-25 nm), with fewer walls and aspect ratio of the order of hundreds. The ratio of outer to inner diameter (od/id) is ranging between 2 and 2.5. Inductively assisted CCVD is a very attractive method because of the major advantages that it presents, like low energetic consumption, thinner, well crystallized and more uniform tubes

Ergotropy and entanglement in critical spin chains

A subsystem of an entangled ground state is in a mixed state. Thus, if we isolate this subsystem from its surroundings we may be able to extract work applying unitary transformations, up to a maximal amount which is called ergotropy. Once this work has been extracted, the subsystem will still contain some bound energy above its local ground state, which can provide valuable information about the entanglement structure. We show that the bound energy for half a free fermionic chain decays as the square of the entanglement entropy divided by the chain length, thus approaching zero for large system sizes, and we conjecture that this relation holds for all 1D critical states

Angle-dependence of quantum oscillations in YBa2Cu3O6.59 shows free spin behaviour of quasiparticles

Measurements of quantum oscillations in the cuprate superconductors afford a new opportunity to assess the extent to which the electronic properties of these materials yield to a description rooted in Fermi liquid theory. However, such an analysis is hampered by the small number of oscillatory periods observed. Here we employ a genetic algorithm to globally model the field, angular, and temperature dependence of the quantum oscillations observed in the resistivity of YBa2Cu3O6.59. This approach successfully fits an entire data set to a Fermi surface comprised of two small, quasi-2-dimensional cylinders. A key feature of the data is the first identification of the effect of Zeeman splitting, which separates spin-up and spin-down contributions, indicating that the quasiparticles in the cuprates behave as nearly free spins, constraining the source of the Fermi surface reconstruction to something other than a conventional spin density wave with moments parallel to the CuO2 planes.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

APLIKASI CITRA SATELIT MULTISPEKTRAL UNTUK MENGANALISIS KONDISI LAHAN MANGROVE BERDASARKAN TINGKAT KEKRITISANNYA DI KAWASAN PESISIR SURABAYA

Wilayah pesisir merupakan wilayah yang paling rentan terhadap kerusakan ekologis. Salah satu jenis ekosistem yang rentan terhadap kerusakan tersebut adalah mangrove. Di Pesisir Surabaya, Jawa Timur, kawasan mangrove saat ini mengalami kerusakan yang parah sebagai akibat dari eksploitasi sumber  daya alam disekitar kawasan tersebut maupun adanya pembangunan fisik seperti wilayah perumahan yang tidak memerhatikan faktor kelestarian hutan mangrove. Dengan memanfaatkan data citra satelit ALOS maka luas lahan mangrove berserta tingkat kekritisan kawasan mangrove dapat dideteksi. Proses pengolahan citra ALOS menggunakan konsep penginderaan jauh dan sistem informasi geografis dimana inventarisasi kekritisan lahan mangrove mengacu kepada pedoman inventarisasi mangrove yang dikeluarkan oleh Departemen Kehutanan. Hasil pengolahan citra satelit ALOS menunjukkan tingkat kerusakan kawasan hutan mangrove mencapai 1071,77 hektar untuk level rusak dan 288,208 hektar untuk level sangat rusak sedangkan untuk level tidak rusak hanya mencapai 0,624 hektar dari total luas kawasan hutan mangrove yang mencapai 1360,604 hektar. Pengolahan kawasan mangrove melalui program rehabilitasi diharapkan dapat mengurangi tingkat kerusakan kawasan hutan mangrove. Kata Kunci: Mangrove, ALOS, Kekritisan Laha

Trust and contextual engagement with the PEPPER system: The qualitative findings of a clinical feasibility study

Background and aims. PEPPER (Patient Empowerment through Predictive PERsonalised decision support) is an EU-funded research project which aims to improve self-management of type 1 diabetes (T1D). The system comprises an AI insulin bolus recommender, coupled with a safety system. The aim of the qualitative arm of this clinical feasibility study was to examine the context of participants’ interaction with the PEPPER system and identify incidents where bolus recommendations were trusted and accepted. Methods. This was a multicentre (UK and Spain) non-randomised open-labelled 6-week pilot study. Thirteen adults with T1D participated in weekly telephone interviews to explore the context of their interactions and responses to PEPPER. Data was thematically analysed through conceptual frameworks for engagement with healthcare digital behaviour change interventions. Results. Participants reported their key interactions as responding to PEPPER bolus recommendations, inputting carbohydrate values, interpreting continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) values through visualization of personal data and dealing with safety alarms. Two themes were associated with trust and engagement with the system; ‘feeling monitored’ and ‘feeling in control’. The incidents where participants trusted PEPPER also enhanced personal expertise of T1D through insights provided by the safety system such as low glucose basal insulin for pump users. Benefits were balanced against technical challenges of the system, which were used to improve the PEPPER application and enhance user experience. Conclusion. Some participants suggested that even access to PEPPER for a temporary period could positively influence self-management strategies. Contextual interviewing is a valuable tool in mobile application development for diabetes decision support systems