13,294 research outputs found
Extended Superconformal Algebras from Classical and Quantum Hamiltonian Reduction
We consider the extended superconformal algebras of the Knizhnik-Bershadsky
type with -algebra like composite operators occurring in the commutation
relations, but with generators of conformal dimension 1, and 2,
only. These have recently been neatly classified by several groups, and we
emphasize the classification based on hamiltonian reduction of affine Lie
superalgebras with even subalgebras . We reveiw the situation
and improve on previous formulations by presenting generic and very compact
expressions valid for all algebras, classical and quantum. Similarly generic
and compact free field realizations are presented as are corresponding
screening charges. Based on these a discussion of singular vectors is
presented. (Based on talk by J.L. Petersen at the Int. Workshop on "String
Theory, Quantum Gravity and the Unification of the Fundamental Interactions",
Rome Sep. 21-26, 1992)Comment: 30 pages, NBI-HE-92-8
An Online Educational Program Improves Pediatric Oncology Nursesâ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Spiritual Care Competence
This study evaluated the potential impact of an online spiritual care educational program on pediatric nursesâ attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and their competence to provide spiritual care to children with cancer at the end of life. It was hypothesized that the intervention would increase nursesâ positive attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and increase nursesâ level of perceived spiritual care competence. A positive correlation was expected between change in nursesâ perceived attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and change in nursesâ perceived spiritual care competence. A prospective, longitudinal design was employed, and analyses included one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance, linear regression, and partial correlation. Statistically significant differences were found in nursesâ attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and nursesâ perceived spiritual care competence. There was a positive relationship between change scores in nursesâ attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and nursesâ spiritual care competence. Online spiritual care educational programs may exert a lasting impact on nursesâ attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and their competence to provide spiritual care to children with cancer at the end of life. Additional studies are required to evaluate the direct effects of educational interventions patient outcomes
Development of a protocol for maintaining viability while shipping organoid-derived retinal tissue.
Retinal organoid technology enables generation of an inexhaustible supply of three-dimensional retinal tissue from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) for regenerative medicine applications. The high similarity of organoid-derived retinal tissue and transplantable human fetal retina provides an opportunity for evaluating and modeling retinal tissue replacement strategies in relevant animal models in the effort to develop a functional retinal patch to restore vision in patients with profound blindness caused by retinal degeneration. Because of the complexity of this very promising approach requiring specialized stem cell and grafting techniques, the tasks of retinal tissue derivation and transplantation are frequently split between geographically distant teams. Delivery of delicate and perishable neural tissue such as retina to the surgical sites requires a reliable shipping protocol and also controlled temperature conditions with damage-reporting mechanisms in place to prevent transplantation of tissue damaged in transit into expensive animal models. We have developed a robust overnight tissue shipping protocol providing reliable temperature control, live monitoring of the shipment conditions and physical location of the package, and damage reporting at the time of delivery. This allows for shipping of viable (transplantation-competent) hPSC-derived retinal tissue over large distances, thus enabling stem cell and surgical teams from different parts of the country to work together and maximize successful engraftment of organoid-derived retinal tissue. Although this protocol was developed for preclinical in vivo studies in animal models, it is potentially translatable for clinical transplantation in the future and will contribute to developing clinical protocols for restoring vision in patients with retinal degeneration
On the Role of Global Warming on the Statistics of Record-Breaking Temperatures
We theoretically study long-term trends in the statistics of record-breaking
daily temperatures and validate these predictions using Monte Carlo simulations
and data from the city of Philadelphia, for which 126 years of daily
temperature data is available. Using extreme statistics, we derive the number
and the magnitude of record temperature events, based on the observed Gaussian
daily temperatures distribution in Philadelphia, as a function of the number of
elapsed years from the start of the data. We further consider the case of
global warming, where the mean temperature systematically increases with time.
We argue that the current warming rate is insufficient to measurably influence
the frequency of record temperature events over the time range of the
observations, a conclusion that is supported by numerical simulations and the
Philadelphia temperature data.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 2-column revtex4 format. For submission to
Journal of Climate. Revised version has some new results and some errors
corrected. Reformatted for Journal of Climate. Second revision has an added
reference. In the third revision one sentence that explains the simulations
is reworded for clarity. New revision 10/3/06 has considerable additions and
new results. Revision on 11/8/06 contains a number of minor corrections and
is the version that will appear in Phys. Rev.
A new neurosurgical tool incorporating differential geometry and cellular automata techniques
Using optical coherence imaging, it is possible to visualize seizure progression intraoperatively. However, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact epileptic focus. This is crucial in attempts to minimize the amount of resection necessary during surgical therapeutic interventions for epilepsy and is typically done approximately from visual inspection of optical coherence imaging stills. In this paper, we create an algorithm with the potential to pinpoint the source of a seizure from an optical coherence imaging still. To accomplish this, a grid is overlaid on optical coherence imaging stills. This then serves as a grid for a two-dimensional cellular automation. Each cell is associated with a Riemannian curvature tensor representing the curvature of the brain's surface in all directions for a cell. Cells which overlay portions of the image which show neurons that are firing are considered "depolarized"
Psychosocial and behavioural correlates of attitudes towards antiretroviral therapy (ART) in a sample of South African mineworkers
Despite being one of the worst affected sectors in South Africa, the mining sector has proven to be one of the most active in intervention efforts in the fight against HIV and AIDS (Ellis, 2007). Owing to low uptake rates of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in mining companies in recent years (Connelly & Rosen, 2006) and the positive relationship between attitudes towards ART and ART uptake (Cooper et al., 2002; Horne, Cooper, Gellaitry, Leake, & Fisher, 2007), this study sought to describe and investigate the psychosocial and behavioural correlates of attitudes towards ART in a sample of South African mineworkers. A total of 806 mineworkers from a large South African mine participated in this quantitative study. Despite a high rate of HIV testing behaviour (83.0%) as well as favourable attitudes towards ART, analysis indicated that temporary employees and contractors were more vulnerable in terms of HIV risk, HIV testing behaviours and ART knowledge and attitudes. Employees who had more positive attitudes towards ART were more knowledgeable of ART and, importantly, had a more favourable attitude towards the mineâs HIV/AIDS treatment programme. These findings are discussed in relation to the low ART uptake rates in this context and recommendations for the improvement of ART uptake amongst employees at this mining site.Keywords: mining sector, workplace, ART uptake, attitudes.Le secteur minier reste lâun des secteurs les plus affectĂ©s par le VIH et SIDA en Afrique du Sud et aussi lâun des plus actifs dans la lutte contre la maladie (Ellis, 2007). En raison du faible taux dâutilisation de la thĂ©rapie antirĂ©trovirale (ART) dans les annĂ©es rĂ©centes par des compagnies miniĂšres (Connelly & Rosen, 2006) et les attitudes positives envers ART et ART absorption (Cooper et al., 2002; Horne, Cooper, Gellaitry, Leake, & Fisher, 2007) pour trouver des solutions pour les malades du VIH/SIDA, cette Ă©tude ĂĄ pour objectif dâexaminer les comportements psychosociaux et le traitement de la thĂ©rapie antirĂ©trovirale dâun groupe de mineurs Sud-Africains. Huit cent six mineurs Sud-Africains ont participĂ© Ă cette Ă©tude quantitative. Soit un taux de dĂ©pistage VIH Ă©levĂ© (83.0%) et des attitudes trĂšs favorables envers ART, les analyses indiquent quâen termes de risque du VIH les employĂ©s temporaires et les entrepreneurs sont plus exposĂ©s ĂĄ la maladie. Mais cependant, les employĂ©s qui sont bien informĂ©s de la mĂ©thode ART grĂące Ă la connaissance et Ă lâinformation bĂ©nĂ©ficient dâun programme de traitement contre le VIH/SIDA. Ces rĂ©sultats font lâobjet de discussion sur le faible taux dâART dans ce contexte et quelques recommandations et amĂ©liorations de lâabsorption de lâART pour les employĂ©s de ce site minier
A Double-Mode RR Lyrae Star with a Strong Fundamental Mode Component
NSVS 5222076, a thirteenth magnitude star in the Northern Sky Variability
Survey, was identified by Oaster as a possible new double-mode RR Lyrae star.
We confirm the double-mode nature of NSVS 5222076, supplementing the survey
data with new V band photometry. NSVS 5222076 has a fundamental mode period of
0.4940 day and a first overtone period of 0.3668 day. Its fundamental mode
light curve has an amplitude twice as large as that of the first overtone mode,
a ratio very rarely seen. Data from the literature are used to discuss the
location in the Petersen diagram of double-mode RR Lyrae stars having strong
fundamental mode pulsation. Such stars tend to occur toward the short period
end of the Petersen diagram, and NSVS 5222976 is no exception to this rule.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, To be published in the March, 2006, issue of
PAS
Second Overtone Pulsators Among Delta Scuti Stars
We investigate the modal stability of stellar models at masses and luminosity
levels corresponding to post main sequence luminous delta scuti pulsators. The
envelope models have been computed at fixed mass value, luminosity level and
chemical composition (Y=0.28, Z=0.02). According to a nonlinear approach to
radial oscillations the present investigation predicts the occurrence of stable
second overtone pulsators for the first time. The shape of both light and
velocity curves are presented and discussed, providing a useful tool for the
identification of second overtone pulsators among the known groups of radially
pulsating stars. The period ratios of mixed mode pulsators obtained by
perturbing the first and the second overtone radial eigenfunctions are in
agreement with observative values. Finally, the physical structure and the
dynamical properties of second overtone pulsators are discussed in detail. The
role played by the nodal lines in the destabilization of second overtone
pulsators is also pointed out.Comment: 20 pages, 11 Postscript figures, uses aaspp4.sty and tighten.st
Sequestration of cholesterol within the host late endocytic pathway restricts liver-stage Plasmodium development
While lysosomes are degradative compartments and one of the defenses against invading pathogens, they are also hubs of metabolic activity. Late endocytic compartments accumulate around Plasmodium berghei liver-stage parasites during development, and whether this is a host defense strategy or active recruitment by the parasites is unknown. In support of the latter hypothesis, we observed that the recruitment of host late endosomes (LEs) and lysosomes is reduced in uis4(â) parasites, which lack a parasitophorous vacuole membrane protein and arrest during liver-stage development. Analysis of parasite development in host cells deficient for late endosomal or lysosomal proteins revealed that the NiemannâPick type C (NPC) proteins, which are involved in cholesterol export from LEs, and the lysosome-associated membrane proteins (LAMP) 1 and 2 are important for robust liver-stage P. berghei growth. Using the compound U18666A, which leads to cholesterol sequestration in LEs similar to that seen in NPC- and LAMP-deficient cells, we show that the restriction of parasite growth depends on cholesterol sequestration and that targeting this process can reduce parasite burden in vivo. Taken together, these data reveal that proper LE and lysosome function positively contributes to liver-stage Plasmodium development
Distinct nature of static and dynamic magnetic stripes in cuprate superconductors
We present detailed neutron scattering studies of the static and dynamic
stripes in an optimally doped high-temperature superconductor,
LaCuO. We find that the dynamic stripes do not disperse towards the
static stripes in the limit of vanishing energy transfer. We conclude that the
dynamic stripes observed in neutron scattering experiments are not the
Goldstone modes associated with the broken symmetry of the simultaneously
observed static stripes, but rather that the signals originate from different
domains in the sample. These domains may be related by structural twinning, or
may be entirely different phases, where the static stripes in one phase are
pinned versions of the dynamic stripes in the other. Our results explain
earlier observations of unusual dispersions in underdoped
LaSrCuO () and LaBaCuO ().
Our findings are relevant for all compounds exhibiting magnetic stripes, and
may thus be a vital part in unveiling the nature of high temperature
superconductivity
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