39,917 research outputs found
Evaluation of the Usda Food Security Measure with Generalized Linear Mixed Models (An)
Over the last decade, new information has been developed and collected to measure the extent of food insecurity and hunger in the United States. Common measurement of the phenomenon of hunger and food insecurity has become possible through efforts of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop a set of survey questions that can be used to obtain estimates of the prevalence and severity of food insecurity. This paper takes a closer look at the measurement of food insecurity and the effect of household variables on measured food insecurity. The effects of demographic and survey-specific variables on the food insecurity/hunger scale are evaluated using a generalized linear model with mixed effects. Data come from the 1995, 1997, and 1999 Food Security Module of the Current Population Survey. The results generally validate the model currently used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition, our approach makes it possible to consider the effect of demographics and several survey design variables on food security among measurably food-insecure households. The analysis of the expanded model with the 1995 data finds results similar to those reported based on the Rasch model used by the USDA. Even though the sample size was reduced and a number of screening and questionnaire changes were introduced in 1997 and 1999, the results for those years appear mostly unchanged and confirm the robustness of the scale in measuring food insecurity. There is some evidence that interpretation of questions may vary among different demographic groups.food insecurity, household hunger, Rasch model.
On the Reconstructed Fermi Surface in the Underdoped Cuprates
The Fermi surface topologies of underdoped samples the high-Tc superconductor
Bi2212 have been measured with angle resolved photoemission. By examining
thermally excited states above the Fermi level, we show that the Fermi surfaces
in the pseudogap phase of underdoped samples are actually composed of fully
enclosed hole pockets. The spectral weight of these pockets is vanishingly
small at the anti-ferromagnetic zone boundary, which creates the illusion of
Fermi "arcs" in standard photoemission measurements. The area of the pockets as
measured in this study is consistent with the doping level, and hence carrier
density, of the samples measured. Furthermore, the shape and area of the
pockets is well reproduced by a phenomenological model of the pseudogap phase
as a spin liquid.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to Physics Review Letter
Preventive effect of ordinary and hyperimmune bovine colostrums on mice diabetes induced by alloxan
In the present study, the anti-diabetic effect of ordinary and hyperimmune bovine colostrum were evaluated in diabetic mice induced by alloxan. The results indicated that blood glucose levels were significantly decreased after administration of colostrum for 30 d, and the glucose tolerance was strengthened in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, the hyperimmune colostrum was more efficient than ordinary colostrum in decreasing the blood glucose level and improving glucose tolerance in diabetic mice (
A posteriori teleportation
The article by Bouwmeester et al. on experimental quantum teleportation
constitutes an important advance in the burgeoning field of quantum
information. The experiment was motivated by the proposal of Bennett et al. in
which an unknown quantum state is `teleported' by Alice to Bob. As illustrated
in Fig. 1, in the implementation of this procedure, by Bouwmeester et al., an
input quantum state is `disembodied' into quantum and classical components, as
in the original protocol. However, in contrast to the original scheme,
Bouwmeester et al.'s procedure necessarily destroys the state at Bob's
receiving terminal, so a `teleported' state can never emerge as a freely
propagating state for subsequent examination or exploitation. In fact,
teleportation is achieved only as a postdiction.Comment: 1 page LaTeX including 1 figure. Scientific Correspondence about:
"Experimental quantum teleportation" Nature 390, 575 (1997
Valence bond solid order near impurities in two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets
Recent scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) experiments on underdoped
cuprates have displayed modulations in the local electronic density of states
which are centered on a Cu-O-Cu bond (Kohsaka et. al., cond-mat/0703309). As a
paradigm of the pinning of such bond-centered ordering in strongly correlated
systems, we present the theory of valence bond solid (VBS) correlations near a
single impurity in a square lattice antiferromagnet. The antiferromagnet is
assumed to be in the vicinity of a quantum transition from a magnetically
ordered Neel state to a spin-gap state with long-range VBS order. We identify
two distinct classes of impurities: i) local modulation in the exchange
constants, and ii) a missing or additional spin, for which the impurity
perturbation is represented by an uncompensated Berry phase. The `boundary'
critical theory for these classes is developed: in the second class we find a
`VBS pinwheel' around the impurity, accompanied by a suppression in the VBS
susceptibility. Implications for numerical studies of quantum antiferromagnets
and for STM experiments on the cuprates are noted.Comment: 41 pages, 6 figures; (v2) Minor changes in terminology, added
reference
Photoemission Spectroscopy of Magnetic and Non-magnetic Impurities on the Surface of the BiSe Topological Insulator
Dirac-like surface states on surfaces of topological insulators have a chiral
spin structure that suppresses back-scattering and protects the coherence of
these states in the presence of non-magnetic scatterers. In contrast, magnetic
scatterers should open the back- scattering channel via the spin-flip processes
and degrade the state's coherence. We present angle-resolved photoemission
spectroscopy studies of the electronic structure and the scattering rates upon
adsorption of various magnetic and non-magnetic impurities on the surface of
BiSe, a model topological insulator. We reveal a remarkable
insensitivity of the topological surface state to both non-magnetic and
magnetic impurities in the low impurity concentration regime. Scattering
channels open up with the emergence of hexagonal warping in the high-doping
regime, irrespective of the impurity's magnetic moment.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
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