19,244 research outputs found
Clinical and Procedural Effects of Transitioning to Contact Force Guided Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation.
Background: A major innovation in atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation has been the introduction of contact force (CF) sensing catheters.
Objective: To evaluate procedural and clinical effects of transitioning to CF-guided AF ablation.
Methods: Consecutive AF ablation patients were studiedduring the period of time of transitioning from a non-CF to CF sensing catheter. Procedural data recorded was total radiofrequency time, time to isolate the left pulmonary veins (LPVs), and time to isolate the right pulmonary veins (RPVs). Clinically, the 3 and 12-month maintenance of sinus rhythm was noted and compared by: paroxysmal vs. persistent AF; CT scan LA volume more or less than 150 cc; CHA2DS2VASC more or less than 2; and LVEF more or less than 55%. Safety data was recorded as well.
Results: Total ablation times were shorter (113 vs.146 min, p=0.011)when using the CF catheters compared to non-CF ablations. This was driven by a decrease in both LPV (46 vs.72 min, p\u3c0.001) and RPV time (54 vs. 75 min, p=0.002).The use of CF catheter did not change the overall percentage of patients in sinus rhythm at 3 and 12-months of follow up. However, sinus rhythm was more frequent at 12 months with CF ablation inpatients with an LA volume of more than 150 cc when compared to non-CF ablation (84.6% and 52.4%, p=0.03). There was no difference in outcomes with stratification by CHA2DS2VASC score or LVEF. No significant difference in complications was noted.
Conclusions: For AF ablation, the initial use of CF-sensing technology reduced procedure times with similar overall sinus rhythm maintenance at 3 and 12 months. CF improved 12-month outcomes in patients with an enlarged LA
Non-unique factorization of polynomials over residue class rings of the integers
We investigate non-unique factorization of polynomials in Z_{p^n}[x] into
irreducibles. As a Noetherian ring whose zero-divisors are contained in the
Jacobson radical, Z_{p^n}[x] is atomic. We reduce the question of factoring
arbitrary non-zero polynomials into irreducibles to the problem of factoring
monic polynomials into monic irreducibles. The multiplicative monoid of monic
polynomials of Z_{p^n}[x] is a direct sum of monoids corresponding to
irreducible polynomials in Z_p[x], and we show that each of these monoids has
infinite elasticity. Moreover, for every positive integer m, there exists in
each of these monoids a product of 2 irreducibles that can also be represented
as a product of m irreducibles.Comment: 11 page
On the intermittent energy transfer at viscous scales in turbulent flows
In this letter we present numerical and experimental results on the scaling
properties of velocity turbulent fields in the range of scales where viscous
effects are acting. A generalized version of Extended Self Similarity capable
of describing scaling laws of the velocity structure functions down to the
smallest resolvable scales is introduced. Our findings suggest the absence of
any sharp viscous cutoff in the intermittent transfer of energy.Comment: 10 pages, plain Latex, 6 figures available upon request to
[email protected]
Performance characteristics of wind profiling radars
Doppler radars used to measure winds in the troposphere and lower stratosphere for weather analysis and forecasting are lower-sensitivity versions of mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere radars widely used for research. The term wind profiler is used to denote these radars because measurements of vertical profiles of horizontal and vertical wind are their primary function. It is clear that wind profilers will be in widespread use within five years: procurement of a network of 30 wind profilers is underway. The Wave Propagation Laboratory (WPL) has operated a small research network of radar wind profilers in Colorado for about two and one-half years. The transmitted power and antenna aperture for these radars is given. Data archiving procedures have been in place for about one year, and this data base is used to evaluate the performance of the radars. One of the prime concerns of potential wind profilers users is how often and how long wind measurements are lacking at a given height. Since these outages constitute an important part of the performance of the wind profilers, they are calculated at three radar frequencies, 50-, 405-, and 915-MHz, (wavelengths of 6-, 0.74-, and 0.33-m) at monthly intervals to determine both the number of outages at each frequency and annual variations in outages
An exact relation between Eulerian and Lagrangian velocity increment statistics
We present a formal connection between Lagrangian and Eulerian velocity
increment distributions which is applicable to a wide range of turbulent
systems ranging from turbulence in incompressible fluids to magnetohydrodynamic
turbulence. For the case of the inverse cascade regime of two-dimensional
turbulence we numerically estimate the transition probabilities involved in
this connection. In this context we are able to directly identify the processes
leading to strongly non-Gaussian statistics for the Lagrangian velocity
increments.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Experimental evidence of accelerated energy transfer in turbulence
We investigate the vorticity dynamics in a turbulent vortex using scattering
of acoustic waves. Two ultrasonic beams are adjusted to probe simultaneously
two spatial scales in a given volume of the flow, thus allowing a dual channel
recording of the dynamics of coherent vorticity structures. Our results show
that this allows to measure the average energy transfer time between different
spatial length scales, and that such transfer goes faster at smaller scales.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
On Making Good Games - Using Player Virtue Ethics and Gameplay Design Patterns to Identify Generally Desirable Gameplay Features
This paper uses a framework of player virtues to perform a
theoretical exploration of what is required to make a game
good. The choice of player virtues is based upon the view
that games can be seen as implements, and that these are
good if they support an intended use, and the intended use
of games is to support people to be good players. A collection of gameplay design patterns, identified through
their relation to the virtues, is presented to provide specific starting points for considering design options for this type of good games. 24 patterns are identified supporting the virtues, including RISK/REWARD, DYNAMIC ALLIANCES, GAME MASTERS, and PLAYER DECIDED RESULTS, as are 7 countering three or more virtues, including ANALYSIS
PARALYSIS, EARLY ELIMINATION, and GRINDING. The paper concludes by identifying limitations of the approach as well as by showing how it can be applied using other views of what are preferable features in games
Multifractality of the Feigenbaum attractor and fractional derivatives
It is shown that fractional derivatives of the (integrated) invariant measure
of the Feigenbaum map at the onset of chaos have power-law tails in their
cumulative distributions, whose exponents can be related to the spectrum of
singularities . This is a new way of characterizing multifractality
in dynamical systems, so far applied only to multifractal random functions
(Frisch and Matsumoto (J. Stat. Phys. 108:1181, 2002)). The relation between
the thermodynamic approach (Vul, Sinai and Khanin (Russian Math. Surveys 39:1,
1984)) and that based on singularities of the invariant measures is also
examined. The theory for fractional derivatives is developed from a heuristic
point view and tested by very accurate simulations.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, J.Stat.Phys. in pres
Time-variability in the Interstellar Boundary Conditions of the Heliosphere: Effect of the Solar Journey on the Galactic Cosmic Ray Flux at Earth
During the solar journey through galactic space, variations in the physical
properties of the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM) modify the heliosphere
and modulate the flux of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) at the surface of the
Earth, with consequences for the terrestrial record of cosmogenic
radionuclides. One phenomenon that needs studying is the effect on cosmogenic
isotope production of changing anomalous cosmic ray fluxes at Earth due to
variable interstellar ionizations. The possible range of interstellar ram
pressures and ionization levels in the low density solar environment generate
dramatically different possible heliosphere configurations, with a wide range
of particle fluxes of interstellar neutrals, their secondary products, and GCRs
arriving at Earth. Simple models of the distribution and densities of ISM in
the downwind direction give cloud transition timescales that can be directly
compared with cosmogenic radionuclide geologic records. Both the interstellar
data and cosmogenic radionuclide data are consistent with cloud transitions
during the Holocene, with large and assumption-dependent uncertainties. The
geomagnetic timeline derived from cosmic ray fluxes at Earth may require
adjustment to account for the disappearance of anomalous cosmic rays when the
Sun is immersed in ionized gas.Comment: Submitted to Space Sciences Review
Renormalized Equilibria of a Schloegl Model Lattice Gas
A lattice gas model for Schloegl's second chemical reaction is described and
analyzed. Because the lattice gas does not obey a semi-detailed-balance
condition, the equilibria are non-Gibbsian. In spite of this, a self-consistent
set of equations for the exact homogeneous equilibria are described, using a
generalized cluster-expansion scheme. These equations are solved in the
two-particle BBGKY approximation, and the results are compared to numerical
experiment. It is found that this approximation describes the equilibria far
more accurately than the Boltzmann approximation. It is also found, however,
that spurious solutions to the equilibrium equations appear which can only be
removed by including effects due to three-particle correlations.Comment: 21 pages, REVTe
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