4,863 research outputs found
Tunneling of a Quantized Vortex: Roles of Pinning and Dissipation
We have performed a theoretical study of the effects of pinning potential and
dissipation on vortex tunneling in superconductors. Analytical results are
obtained in various limits relevant to experiment. In general we have found
that pinning and dissipation tend to suppress the effect of the vortex velocity
dependent part of the Magnus force on vortex tunneling.Comment: Latex, 12 page
Hypercholesterolaemia in pregnancy as a predictor of adverse pregnancy outcome
Background: Prevention of viable spontaneous preterm birth and low birth weight through screening is one of the key aims of antenatal care as these have implications for the child, mother and society. If women can be identified to be at high risk of these adverse birth outcomes in early pregnancy, they can be targeted for more intensive antenatal surveillance and prophylactic interventions.Objectives: This study is therefore aimed to determine the association between elevated maternal serum cholesterol level in pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcome.Methods: It was a prospective observational cohort study in which eligible participants were enrolled at gestational age of 14 to 20 weeks. Blood samples were obtained to measure total serum cholesterol concentrations and the sera were then analyzed enzymatically by the cholesterol oxidase: p-aminophenazone (CHOD PAP) method. Pregnancy outcomes were obtained by extraction from medical records and the labour ward register.Results: The incidences of the two adverse pregnancy outcomes examined in the study (preterm births and low birth weight (LBW) in term neonates) were 8.0% and 14.4% respectively. Preterm birth was 6.89-times more common in mothers with high cholesterol than in control mothers with normal total cholesterol level (38.5% versus 5.4%, P=0.029) while LBW was 7.99-times more common in mothers with high total maternal cholesterol than in mothers with normal cholesterol (87.5% versus 10.5%, P=0.019).Conclusion: We can infer that the high maternal serum cholesterol hypercholesterolaemia) is associated with preterm delivery/ low birth weight (LBW) in term infants. However, further validation of these findings with more robust prospective and longitudinal characterization of maternal serum cholesterol profiles is required in subsequent investigations.Keywords: Adverse birth outcome, cholesterol, hypercholesterolaemia, LBW, preterm birth
The Analyticity of a Generalized Ruelle's Operator
In this work we propose a generalization of the concept of Ruelle operator
for one dimensional lattices used in thermodynamic formalism and ergodic
optimization, which we call generalized Ruelle operator, that generalizes both
the Ruelle operator proposed in [BCLMS] and the Perron Frobenius operator
defined in [Bowen]. We suppose the alphabet is given by a compact metric space,
and consider a general a-priori measure to define the operator. We also
consider the case where the set of symbols that can follow a given symbol of
the alphabet depends on such symbol, which is an extension of the original
concept of transition matrices from the theory of subshifts of finite type. We
prove the analyticity of the Ruelle operator and present some examples
Vortex Quantum Nucleation and Tunneling in Superconducting Thin Films: Role of Dissipation and Periodic Pinning
We investigate the phenomenon of decay of a supercurrent in a superconducting
thin film in the absence of an applied magnetic field. The resulting
zero-temperature resistance derives from two equally possible mechanisms: 1)
quantum tunneling of vortices from the edges of the sample; and 2) homogeneous
quantum nucleation of vortex-antivortex pairs in the bulk of the sample,
arising from the instability of the Magnus field's ``vacuum''. We study both
situations in the case where quantum dissipation dominates over the inertia of
the vortices. We find that the vortex tunneling and nucleation rates have a
very rapid dependence on the current density driven through the sample.
Accordingly, whilst normally the superconductor is essentially resistance-free,
for the high current densities that can be reached in high- films a
measurable resistance might develop. We show that edge-tunneling appears
favoured, but the presence of pinning centres and of thermal fluctuations leads
to an enhancement of the nucleation rates. In the case where a periodic pinning
potential is artificially introduced in the sample, we show that
current-oscillations will develop indicating an effect specific to the
nucleation mechanism where the vortex pair-production rate, thus the
resistance, becomes sensitive to the corrugation of the pinning substrate. In
all situations, we give estimates for the observability of the studied
phenomena.Comment: 8 pages (LaTeX), 2 postscript figures. Invited talk to the SATT8 (8th
Italian Meeting on High-T_c Superconductivity), Como (Italy), Villa Olmo, 1-4
October 1996, to be published in La Rivista del Nuovo Cimento
Microscopic theory of vortex dynamics in homogeneous superconductors
Vortex dynamics in fermionic superfluids is carefully considered from the
microscopic point of view. Finite temperatures, as well as impurities, are
explicitly incorporated. To enable readers understand the physical
implications, macroscopic demonstrations based on thermodynamics and
fluctuations- dissipation theorems are constructed. For the first time a clear
summary and a critical review of previous results are given.Comment: Presentations are made more straightforward. A detailed presentation
that why the vortex friction is finite when the geometric phase exists, as
required by referees, though I think it is obviou
Profile of clinically-diagnosed dementias in a neuropsychiatric practice in Abeokuta, South-Western Nigeria
Objective: Many subjects with dementia present primarily to neuropsychiatric practices because of behavioural and psychological symptoms (BPSD). This study reviewed the profile of clinically-diagnosed dementias and BPSD seen in a pioneer neuropsychiatric practice in Abeokuta, southwestern Nigeria over a ten year period (January1998 – December 2007). Methods: A review of hospital records of all patients with diagnoses of dementia or dementing illness using the ICD-10 criteria as well as specific diagnostic criteria for different dementia phenotypes. Associated BPSD, co-morbidities and treatments were also reviewed. Results: Out of a total of 240,294 patients seen over the study period, 108 subjects met clinical diagnostic criteria for probable dementia giving a hospital frequency of 45 per 100,000. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Vascular dementia (VaD) were the predominant phenotypes seen in 62 (57.4%) and 18 (16.7%) subjects respectively. Others include mixed dementia (4 cases), frontotemporal dementia (4 cases), Lewy body dementia (3 cases), alcohol-related dementia (3 cases), PD dementia (1 case) and unclassifiable (13 cases). Apathy, night time behaviour, aberrant motor behaviour, agitation and irritability were the most common BPSD features, while hypertension was the most common co-morbidity. Neuroleptics, anticholinergics and anti-hypertensives were most commonly prescribed. Anticholinesterase inhibitors were sparingly used. Conclusion: Probable AD was the most prevalent dementia phenotype seen in this practice. Increased awareness of dementia and better utilization of specific treatments are needed among psychiatrists and primary care practitioners in Nigeria.Keywords: Dementia phenotypes; BPSD; Neuropsychiatric practice; Nigeria; Afric
Geometric Laws of Vortex Quantum Tunneling
In the semiclassical domain the exponent of vortex quantum tunneling is
dominated by a volume which is associated with the path the vortex line traces
out during its escape from the metastable well. We explicitly show the
influence of geometrical quantities on this volume by describing point vortex
motion in the presence of an ellipse. It is argued that for the semiclassical
description to hold the introduction of an additional geometric constraint, the
distance of closest approach, is required. This constraint implies that the
semiclassical description of vortex nucleation by tunneling at a boundary is in
general not possible. Geometry dependence of the tunneling volume provides a
means to verify experimental observation of vortex quantum tunneling in the
superfluid Helium II.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, revised version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Berry's Phase in the Presence of a Stochastically Evolving Environment: A Geometric Mechanism for Energy-Level Broadening
The generic Berry phase scenario in which a two-level system is coupled to a
second system whose dynamical coordinate is slowly-varying is generalized to
allow for stochastic evolution of the slow system. The stochastic behavior is
produced by coupling the slow system to a heat resevoir which is modeled by a
bath of harmonic oscillators initially in equilibrium at temperature T, and
whose spectral density has a bandwidth which is small compared to the
energy-level spacing of the fast system. The well-known energy-level shifts
produced by Berry's phase in the fast system, in conjunction with the
stochastic motion of the slow system, leads to a broadening of the fast system
energy-levels. In the limit of strong damping and sufficiently low temperature,
we determine the degree of level-broadening analytically, and show that the
slow system dynamics satisfies a Langevin equation in which Lorentz-like and
electric-like forces appear as a consequence of geometrical effects. We also
determine the average energy-level shift produced in the fast system by this
mechanism.Comment: 29 pages, RevTex, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Magnetization Relaxation via Quantum and Classical Vortex Motion in a Bose Glass Superconductor
I show that in Bose Glass superconductor with high and at low the
magnetization relaxation (S), dominated by quantum tunneling, is , which crosses over to the conventional classical rate at
higher and lower , with the crossover . I argue
that due to interactions between flux lines there exist three relaxation
regimes, depending on whether ,
corresponding to Strongly-pinned Bose Glass (SBG) with large , Mott
Insulator (MI) with vanishing S, and Weakly-pinned Bose Glass (WBG)
characterized by small . I discuss the effects of interactions on
and focus attention on the recent experiment which is consistently described by
the theory.Comment: 4 pages, self-unpacking uuencoded compressed postscript file with
figures already inside text; to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett.(1995
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