601 research outputs found
Perdeuterated cyanobiphenyl liquid crystals for infrared applications
Perdeuterated 4'-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl (D5CB) was synthesized and its physical properties evaluated and compared to those of 5CB. D5CB retains physical properties similar to those of 5CB, such as phase transition temperatures, dielectric constants, and refractive indices. An outstanding feature of D5CB is that it exhibits a much cleaner and reduced infrared absorption. Perdeuteration, therefore, extends the usable range of liquid crystals to the mid infrared by significantly reducing the absorption in the near infrared, which is essential for telecom applications
The Practice of Immigration Health in Complex Emergency Situations - A Case Study of Kosovo from March to July 1999
The need to rapidly transport refugees,
displaced as a result of evolving complex
humanitarian emergencies creates challenges
for those refugee-receiving nations
that require formaI immigration
medical screening of these populations.
Balancing the need to expediently resettle
the refugees with these legislative and
regulatory medical requirements can be
logistically and operationally difficult.
During the 1999 Kosovo crisis, the Humanitarian
Evacuation Programme
from the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia rapidly moved large numbers
of Kosovar Albanian refugees to nations
with existing formal immigration
medical screening requirements. This
paper describes the successful management and delivery
of immigration health
services during this complicated international
event.La nécessité de transporter rapidement
les réfugiés déplacés à cause d'urgences
humanitaires complexes Ă Ă©volution
rapide représenteun défi pour les nations
receveuses de réfugiés requérant un
tamisage médical routinier de sa population
immigrante. Des points de vue
logistique et opérationnel, il peut
s'avérer fort difficile pour ces états de
concilier la nécessité de relocaliser
rapidement les réfugiés avec les exigences
de leurs lois et règlements en
matière médicale et sanitaire. Lors de la
crise du Kosovo de 1999, le Programme
d'Évacuation Humanitaire de l'ancienne
république yougoslave de Macédoine
déplaça rapidement un grand nombre de
réfugiés albanais kosovars vers des nations
requérant formellement un
tamisage médical de sa population
immigrante. Cet article décrit la gestion
et la distribution réussies de services de
santé à l'immigration au cours de cet
événement international complexe
Evolution of central pattern generators for the control of a five-link bipedal walking mechanism
Central pattern generators (CPGs), with a basis is neurophysiological
studies, are a type of neural network for the generation of rhythmic motion.
While CPGs are being increasingly used in robot control, most applications are
hand-tuned for a specific task and it is acknowledged in the field that generic
methods and design principles for creating individual networks for a given task
are lacking. This study presents an approach where the connectivity and
oscillatory parameters of a CPG network are determined by an evolutionary
algorithm with fitness evaluations in a realistic simulation with accurate
physics. We apply this technique to a five-link planar walking mechanism to
demonstrate its feasibility and performance. In addition, to see whether
results from simulation can be acceptably transferred to real robot hardware,
the best evolved CPG network is also tested on a real mechanism. Our results
also confirm that the biologically inspired CPG model is well suited for legged
locomotion, since a diverse manifestation of networks have been observed to
succeed in fitness simulations during evolution.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures; substantial revision of content, organization,
and quantitative result
Family history of breast cancer and young age at diagnosis of breast cancer increase risk of second primary malignancies in women: a population-based cohort study
Among 152 600 breast cancer patients diagnosed during 1958–2000, there was a 22% increased risk of developing a second primary non-breast malignancy (standardised incidence ratio (SIR)=1.22; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.19–1.24). The highest risk was seen for connective tissue cancer (SIR=1.78; 95% CI: 1.49–2.10). Increased risks were noted among women diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50. Oesophagus cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma showed six- and four-fold higher risks, respectively, in women with a family history of breast cancer compared to those without in the ⩾10-year follow-up period
Endogenous suppression of WNT signalling in human embryonic stem cells leads to low differentiation propensity towards definitive endoderm
Low differentiation propensity towards a targeted lineage can significantly hamper the utility of individual human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) lines in biomedical applications. Here, we use monolayer and micropatterned cell cultures, as well as transcriptomic profiling, to investigate how variability in signalling pathway activity between human embryonic stem cell lines affects their differentiation efficiency towards definitive endoderm (DE). We show that endogenous suppression of WNT signalling in hPSCs at the onset of differentiation prevents the switch from self-renewal to DE specification. Gene expression profiling reveals that this inefficient switch is reflected in NANOG expression dynamics. Importantly, we demonstrate that higher WNT stimulation or inhibition of the PI3K/AKT signalling can overcome the DE commitment blockage. Our findings highlight that redirection of the activity of Activin/NODAL pathway by WNT signalling towards mediating DE fate specification is a vulnerable spot, as disruption of this process can result in poor hPSC specification towards DE
Schottky mass measurements of heavy neutron-rich nuclides in the element range 70\leZ \le79 at the ESR
Storage-ring mass spectrometry was applied to neutron-rich Au
projectile fragments. Masses of Lu, Hf, Ta,
W, and Re nuclei were measured for the first time. The
uncertainty of previously known masses of W and Os nuclei
was improved. Observed irregularities on the smooth two-neutron separation
energies for Hf and W isotopes are linked to the collectivity phenomena in the
corresponding nuclei.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 2 table
Observation of Non-Exponential Orbital Electron Capture Decays of Hydrogen-Like Pr and Pm Ions
We report on time-modulated two-body weak decays observed in the orbital
electron capture of hydrogen-like Pr and Pm
ions coasting in an ion storage ring. Using non-destructive single ion,
time-resolved Schottky mass spectrometry we found that the expected exponential
decay is modulated in time with a modulation period of about 7 seconds for both
systems. Tentatively this observation is attributed to the coherent
superposition of finite mass eigenstates of the electron neutrinos from the
weak decay into a two-body final state.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
Hepatitis viral markers in patients undergoing primary liver transplants
The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence in liver transplant (OLTx) patients of the hepatitis markers (anti-A, anti-B, anti-C, anti-D and HBsAg) and the interrelationships between markers and patients' sexes, ages, dates of transplant, clinicopathological diagnoses, and short-term survivals. Slightly more than half of the patients were male. Anti-A and anti-B were about evenly distributed between male and female. Anti-C, anti-D, and HBsAg were far more common in males. Age and year of transplant showed only a moderate increase in anti-A with increasing age. Anti-A was found in 57% of all patients, anti-B in 18%, anti-C in 17%, and HBsAg in 17%. Anti-D was tested only in patients who were positive for anti-B or HBsAg and occurred in 21 (11%) of 185. The poorest short-term survival occurred in males who showed both anti-A and HBsAg. © 1993 Plenum Publishing Corporation
First Results from the TOTEM Experiment
The first physics results from the TOTEM experiment are here reported,
concerning the measurements of the total, differential elastic, elastic and
inelastic pp cross-section at the LHC energy of = 7 TeV, obtained
using the luminosity measurement from CMS. A preliminary measurement of the
forward charged particle distribution is also shown.Comment: Conference Proceeding. MPI@LHC 2010: 2nd International Workshop on
Multiple Partonic Interactions at the LHC. Glasgow (UK), 29th of November to
the 3rd of December 201
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