COPD: Optimizing Treatment

A guideline update and an expanded armamentarium have many physicians wondering how best to treat patients with COPD. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) carries a high disease burden. In 2012, it was the 4th leading cause of death worldwide.1,2 In 2015, the World Health Organization updated its Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines, classifying patients with COPD based on disease burden as determined by symptoms, airflow obstruction, and exacerbation history.3 These revisions, coupled with expanded therapeutic options within established classes of medications and new combination drugs to treat COPD (TABLE 1),3-6 have led to questions about interclass differences and the best treatment regimen for particular patients

Propulsion simulator for magnetically-suspended wind tunnel models

The objective of phase two of a current investigation sponsored by NASA Langley Research Center is to demonstrate the measurement of aerodynamic forces/moments, including the effects of exhaust gases, in magnetic suspension and balance system (MSBS) wind tunnels. Two propulsion simulator models are being developed: a small-scale and a large-scale unit, both employing compressed, liquified carbon dioxide as propellant. The small-scale unit was designed, fabricated, and statically-tested at Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI). The large-scale simulator is currently in the preliminary design stage. The small-scale simulator design/development is presented, and the data from its static firing on a thrust stand are discussed. The analysis of this data provides important information for the design of the large-scale unit. A description of the preliminary design of the device is also presented

The Baryon Fractions and Mass-to-Light Ratios of Early-Type Galaxies

We jointly model 22 early-type gravitational lens galaxies with stellar dynamical measurements using standard CDM halo models. The sample is inhomogeneous in both its mass distributions and the evolution of its stellar populations unless the true uncertainties are significantly larger than the reported measurement errors. In general, the individual systems cannot constrain halo models, in the sense that the data poorly constrains the stellar mass fraction of the halo. The ensemble of systems, however, strongly constrains the average stellar mass represented by the visible galaxies to $0.026\pm0.006$ of the halo mass if we neglect adiabatic compression, rising to $0.056\pm0.011$ of the halo mass if we include adiabatic compression. Both estimates are significantly smaller than the global baryon fraction, corresponding to a star formation efficiency for early-type galaxies of $10$. In the adiabatically compressed models, we find an average local B-band stellar mass-to-light ratio of (M/L)_0 = (7.2\pm0.5)(M_{\sun}/L_{\sun}) that evolves by $d\log(M/L)/dz = -0.72\pm0.08$ per unit redshift. Adjusting the isotropy of the stellar orbits has little effect on the results. The adiabatically compressed models are strongly favored if we impose either local estimates of the mass-to-light ratios of early-type galaxies or the weak lensing measurements for the lens galaxies on 100 kpc scales as model constraints.Comment: 9 figure

Site Specific Management: The Pros, the Cons, and the Realities

Site specific management (SSM) for agriculture involves the variable management of soils and crops according to localized conditions within a field. Known by many other names, such as Grid Farming , Farming by Soils or Variable Rate Technology (VRT), SSM is a rapidly emerging set of technologies that allow farmers to manage their soils and crops on-the-go as equipment moves across a field. In essence, SSM is about doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right place, in the right way. Thus, SSM is intuitively appealing because it represents a means of improving the economic and environmental performance of cropping systems. However, while proponents of SSM will endorse its great potential, the fact is that SSM is an emerging technology that is best described as still in its infancy. Thus, at this stage in its development, SSM has its strengths (Pros) and its weaknesses (Cons) which in combination clearly define the current status of SSM for agriculture (Realities). What follows is a brief overview describing some essential elements of SSM and the degree to which these elements have or have not been developed

Anomalous prompt photon production in hadronic collisions at low-xTx_T

We investigate the discrepancy that exists at low-$x_T=2p_T/\sqrt{s}$ between the next--to--leading order QCD calculations of prompt photon production and the measured cross section. The central values of the measured cross section are of order 100\% larger than QCD predictions in this region. It has been suggested that the bremsstrahlung contribution may account for this discrepancy. The quark fragmentation function $D_{\gamma/q}(z)$ has not been measured and an exactly known asymptotic form is normally used in calculations. We examine the effect of much larger fragmentation functions on the QCD predictions. After illustrating the effect of the large fragmentation functions in some detail for recent CDF data at $\sqrt{s}$=1.8~TeV, we perform a $\chi^2$ fit to 8 prompt photon data sets ranging in CMS energy from 24~GeV to 1.8~TeV. While a large fragmentation function normalization may prove to play an important role in resolving the discrepancy, the present theoretical and experimental uncertainties prevent any definite normalization value from being determined.Comment: 14 pages, LBL-33122 and UCB-PTH-92/38. 13 figures available by email, specify postscript or topdrawe

The contribution of energy efficiency towards the success of industrial organisations in South Africa

The original publication is available at http://sajie.journals.ac.zaENGLISH ABSTRACT: Internationally, governments and lobby groups increasingly put pressure on organisations to reduce their impact on the environment. To this end, various studies show the drivers, barriers, and contributions of energy efficiency towards a more sustainable environment, particularly through reduced greenhouse gas emissions and other by-products. In the study summarised in this paper, the factors that drive organisational success were compared with the effects that energy efficiency projects have on organisations. Methods, policies, and strategies on the application of energy efficiency were also studied. The findings are that, in general, most organisations have energy efficiency policies and strategies in place, and they include internal and external stakeholders in their energy efficiency efforts. These efforts also show a positive correlation with the factors that contribute to the perceived success of organisations in the South African industrial sector. These strategies must be maintained in the longer term, as energy efficiency will play a more important role in the future.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Organisasies, wêreldwyd, word toenemend onder druk geplaas deur regerings- en aksiegroepe om hul impak op die omgewing te verminder. Na aanleiding hiervan toon verskeie studies die drywers, struikelblokke en bydraes van energie-doeltreffendheid na ʼn meer volhoubare omgewing, veral ten opsigte van groenhuisgas-emissies en ander neweprodukte. In hierdie studie is die faktore wat die sukses van organisasies dryf vergelyk met die effek van die toepassing van energiedoeltreffendheidsprojekte op organisasies. Metodes, beleid en strategieë in terme van die toepassing van energiedoeltreffendheid is ook bestudeer. Die bevindinge is dat die meeste organisasies, oor die algemeen, beleid en strategieë in plek het in terme van energiedoeltreffendheid; dié organisasies sluit interne en eksterne belanghebbendes in waar hulle strewe na energiedoeltreffendheid. Hierdie aktiwiteite toon ʼn positiewe korrelasie met die faktore wat waarde bydra ten opsigte van die oënskynlike sukses van organisasies in die Suid-Afrikaanse industriële sektor. Dus moet hierdie strategieë in plek gehou word in die langtermyn, aangesien energiedoeltreffendheid ʼn belangriker rol sal speel in die toekoms

D-Terms, Unification, and the Higgs Mass

We study gauge extensions of the MSSM that contain non-decoupling D-terms, which contribute to the Higgs boson mass. These models naturally maintain gauge coupling unification and raise the Higgs mass without fine-tuning. Unification constrains the structure of the gauge extensions, limiting the Higgs mass in these models to roughly less than 150 GeV. The D-terms contribute to the Higgs mass only if the extended gauge symmetry is broken at energies of a few TeV, leading to new heavy gauge bosons in this mass range.Comment: 30+1 pages, 7 figure

On the validity of mean-field amplitude equations for counterpropagating wavetrains

We rigorously establish the validity of the equations describing the evolution of one-dimensional long wavelength modulations of counterpropagating wavetrains for a hyperbolic model equation, namely the sine-Gordon equation. We consider both periodic amplitude functions and localized wavepackets. For the localized case, the wavetrains are completely decoupled at leading order, while in the periodic case the amplitude equations take the form of mean-field (nonlocal) Schr\"odinger equations rather than locally coupled partial differential equations. The origin of this weakened coupling is traced to a hidden translation symmetry in the linear problem, which is related to the existence of a characteristic frame traveling at the group velocity of each wavetrain. It is proved that solutions to the amplitude equations dominate the dynamics of the governing equations on asymptotically long time scales. While the details of the discussion are restricted to the class of model equations having a leading cubic nonlinearity, the results strongly indicate that mean-field evolution equations are generic for bimodal disturbances in dispersive systems with \O(1) group velocity.Comment: 16 pages, uuencoded, tar-compressed Postscript fil