Self-harm risk between adolescence and midlife in people who experienced separation from one or both parents during childhood

AbstractBackgroundExperience of child-parent separation predicts adverse outcomes in later life. We conducted a detailed epidemiological examination of this complex relationship by modelling an array of separation scenarios and trajectories and subsequent risk of self-harm.MethodsThis cohort study examined persons born in Denmark during 1971–1997. We measured child-parent separations each year from birth to 15th birthday via complete residential address records in the Civil Registration System. Self-harm episodes between 15th birthday and early middle age were ascertained through linkage to psychiatric and general hospital registers. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) from Poisson regression models were estimated against a reference category of individuals not separated from their parents.ResultsAll exposure models examined indicated an association with raised self-harm risk. For example, large elevations in risk were observed in relation to separation from both parents at 15th birthday (IRR 5.50, 95% CI 5.25–5.77), experiencing five or more changes in child-parent separation status (IRR 5.24, CI 4.88–5.63), and having a shorter duration of familial cohesion during upbringing. There was no significant evidence for varying strength of association according to child's gender.LimitationsMeasuring child-parent separation according to differential residential addresses took no account of the reason for or circumstances of these separations.ConclusionsThese novel findings suggest that self-harm prevention initiatives should be tailored toward exposed persons who remain psychologically distressed into adulthood. These high-risk subgroups include individuals with little experience of familial cohesion during their upbringing, those with the most complicated trajectories who lived through multiple child-parent separation transitions, and those separated from both parents during early adolescence

Controlled-NOT logic gate for phase qubits based on conditional spectroscopy

A controlled-NOT logic gate based on conditional spectroscopy has been demonstrated recently for a pair of superconducting flux qubits [Plantenberg et al., Nature 447, 836 (2007)]. Here we study the fidelity of this type of gate applied to a phase qubit coupled to a resonator (or a pair of capacitively coupled phase qubits). Our results show that an intrinsic fidelity of more than 99% is achievable in 45ns.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, To appear in Quantum Inf. Pro

Genome sequence of<i> Leuconostoc mesenteroides</i> subsp. <i>cremoris</i> strain T26, isolated from mesophilic undefined cheese starter

Leuconostoc is the main group of heterofermentative bacteria found in mesophilic dairy starters. They grow in close symbiosis with the Lactococcus population and are able to degrade citrate. Here we present a draft genome sequence of Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris strain T26

Genome sequences of two <i>Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides</i> strains isolated from Danish dairy starter cultures

The lactic acid bacterium Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides can be found in mesophilic cheese starters, where it produces aromatic compounds from, e.g., citrate. Here, we present the draft genome sequences of two L. pseudomesenteroides strains isolated from traditional Danish cheese starters

Study of Thermal Properties of Graphene-Based Structures Using the Force Constant Method

The thermal properties of graphene-based materials are theoretically investigated. The fourth-nearest neighbor force constant method for phonon properties is used in conjunction with both the Landauer ballistic and the non-equilibrium Green's function techniques for transport. Ballistic phonon transport is investigated for different structures including graphene, graphene antidot lattices, and graphene nanoribbons. We demonstrate that this particular methodology is suitable for robust and efficient investigation of phonon transport in graphene-based devices. This methodology is especially useful for investigations of thermoelectric and heat transport applications.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl

Photo--assisted current and shot noise in the fractional quantum Hall effect

The effect of an AC perturbation on the shot noise of a fractional quantum Hall fluid is studied both in the weak and the strong backscattering regimes. It is known that the zero-frequency current is linear in the bias voltage, while the noise derivative exhibits steps as a function of bias. In contrast, at Laughlin fractions, the backscattering current and the backscattering noise both exhibit evenly spaced singularities, which are reminiscent of the tunneling density of states singularities for quasiparticles. The spacing is determined by the quasiparticle charge $\nu e$ and the ratio of the DC bias with respect to the drive frequency. Photo--assisted transport can thus be considered as a probe for effective charges at such filling factors, and could be used in the study of more complicated fractions of the Hall effect. A non-perturbative method for studying photo--assisted transport at $\nu=1/2$ is developed, using a refermionization procedure.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure

Green function techniques in the treatment of quantum transport at the molecular scale

The theoretical investigation of charge (and spin) transport at nanometer length scales requires the use of advanced and powerful techniques able to deal with the dynamical properties of the relevant physical systems, to explicitly include out-of-equilibrium situations typical for electrical/heat transport as well as to take into account interaction effects in a systematic way. Equilibrium Green function techniques and their extension to non-equilibrium situations via the Keldysh formalism build one of the pillars of current state-of-the-art approaches to quantum transport which have been implemented in both model Hamiltonian formulations and first-principle methodologies. We offer a tutorial overview of the applications of Green functions to deal with some fundamental aspects of charge transport at the nanoscale, mainly focusing on applications to model Hamiltonian formulations.Comment: Tutorial review, LaTeX, 129 pages, 41 figures, 300 references, submitted to Springer series "Lecture Notes in Physics