9,062 research outputs found
Coronavirus biopolitics: the paradox of France's Foucauldian heritage.
In this short paper we analyse some paradoxical aspects of France's Foucauldian heritage: (1) while several French scholars claim the COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect example of what Foucault called biopolitics, popular reaction instead suggests a biopolitical failure on the part of the government; (2) One of these failures concerns the government's inability to produce reliable biostatistical data, especially regarding health inequalities in relation to COVID-19. We interrogate whether Foucaldianism contributed, in the past as well today, towards a certain myopia in France regarding biostatistics and its relation to social inequalities in health. One might ask whether this very data could provide an appropriate response to the Foucauldian question: What kind of governance of life is the pandemic revealing to us
Diffraction limited optics for single atom manipulation
We present an optical system designed to capture and observe a single neutral
atom in an optical dipole trap, created by focussing a laser beam using a large
numerical aperture N.A.=0.5 aspheric lens. We experimentally evaluate the
performance of the optical system and show that it is diffraction limited over
a broad spectral range (~ 200 nm) with a large transverse field (+/- 25
microns). The optical tweezer created at the focal point of the lens is able to
trap single atoms of 87Rb and to detect them individually with a large
collection efficiency. We measure the oscillation frequency of the atom in the
dipole trap, and use this value as an independent determination of the waist of
the optical tweezer. Finally, we produce with the same lens two dipole traps
separated by 2.2 microns and show that the imaging system can resolve the two
atoms.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures; typos corrected and references adde
British Neurotoxin Network recommendations for managing cervical dystonia in patients with a poor response to botulinum toxin
Botulinum toxin (BoNT) injections are an effective
treatment for cervical dystonia. Approximately
20% of patients eventually stop BoNT treatment,
mostly because of treatment failure. These
recommendations review the different
therapeutic interventions for optimising the
treatment in secondary poor responder patients.
Immunoresistance has become less common over
the years, but the diagnosis has to be addressed
with a frontalis test or an Extensor Digitorum
Brevis test. In case of immunoresistance to BoNTA,
we discuss the place the different therapeutic
options (BoNT-A holidays, BoNT-B injections,
alternative BoNT-A injections, deep brain
stimulation). When poor responders are not
immunoresistant, they benefit from reviewing (1)
injections technique with electromyography or
ultrasound guidance, (2) muscles selection and
(3) dose of BoNT. In addition, in both scenarios,
a holistic approach including drug treatment,
retraining and psychological support is valuable
in the management of these complex and severe
cervical dystonia
Breakdown of Conformal Invariance at Strongly Random Critical Points
We consider the breakdown of conformal and scale invariance in random systems
with strongly random critical points. Extending previous results on
one-dimensional systems, we provide an example of a three-dimensional system
which has a strongly random critical point. The average correlation functions
of this system demonstrate a breakdown of conformal invariance, while the
typical correlation functions demonstrate a breakdown of scale invariance. The
breakdown of conformal invariance is due to the vanishing of the correlation
functions at the infinite disorder fixed point, causing the critical
correlation functions to be controlled by a dangerously irrelevant operator
describing the approach to the fixed point. We relate the computation of
average correlation functions to a problem of persistence in the RG flow.Comment: 9 page
The Unusually Luminous Extragalactic Nova SN 2010U
We present observations of the unusual optical transient SN 2010U, including
spectra taken 1.03 days to 15.3 days after maximum light that identify it as a
fast and luminous Fe II type nova. Our multi-band light curve traces the fast
decline (t_2 = 3.5 days) from maximum light (M_V = -10.2 mag), placing SN 2010U
in the top 0.5% of the most luminous novae ever observed. We find typical
ejecta velocities of approximately 1100 km/s and that SN 2010U shares many
spectral and photometric characteristics with two other fast and luminous Fe II
type novae, including Nova LMC 1991 and M31N-2007-11d. For the extreme
luminosity of this nova, the maximum magnitude vs. rate of decline relationship
indicates a massive white dwarf progenitor with a low pre-outburst accretion
rate. However, this prediction is in conflict with emerging theories of nova
populations, which predict that luminous novae from massive white dwarfs should
preferentially exhibit an alternate spectral type (He/N) near maximum light.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures. Submitted to the Astrophysical Journa
Fusion of Li with Tb} at near barrier energies
Complete and incomplete fusion cross sections for Li+Tb have
been measured at energies around the Coulomb barrier by the -ray
method. The measurements show that the complete fusion cross sections at
above-barrier energies are suppressed by 34% compared to the coupled
channels calculations. A comparison of the complete fusion cross sections at
above-barrier energies with the existing data of B+Tb and
Li+Tb shows that the extent of suppression is correlated with the
-separation energies of the projectiles. It has been argued that the Dy
isotopes produced in the reaction Li+Tb, at below-barrier
energies are primarily due to the -transfer to unbound states of Tb,
while both transfer and incomplete fusion processes contribute at above-barrier
energies.Comment: Phys. Rev. C (accepted
Calibration of the LIGO displacement actuators via laser frequency modulation
We present a frequency modulation technique for calibration of the
displacement actuators of the LIGO 4-km-long interferometric gravitational-wave
detectors. With the interferometer locked in a single-arm configuration, we
modulate the frequency of the laser light, creating an effective length
variation that we calibrate by measuring the amplitude of the frequency
modulation. By simultaneously driving the voice coil actuators that control the
length of the arm cavity, we calibrate the voice coil actuation coefficient
with an estimated 1-sigma uncertainty of less than one percent. This technique
enables a force-free, single-step actuator calibration using a displacement
fiducial that is fundamentally different from those employed in other
calibration methods.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit
Visualizing the logistic map with a microcontroller
The logistic map is one of the simplest nonlinear dynamical systems that
clearly exhibit the route to chaos. In this paper, we explored the evolution of
the logistic map using an open-source microcontroller connected to an array of
light emitting diodes (LEDs). We divided the one-dimensional interval
into ten equal parts, and associated and LED to each segment. Every time an
iteration took place a corresponding LED turned on indicating the value
returned by the logistic map. By changing some initial conditions of the
system, we observed the transition from order to chaos exhibited by the map.Comment: LaTeX, 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 listin
Right ventricular dysfunction after resuscitation predicts poor outcomes in cardiac arrest patients independent of left ventricular function.
OBJECTIVE: Determination of clinical outcomes following resuscitation from cardiac arrest remains elusive in the immediate post-arrest period. Echocardiographic assessment shortly after resuscitation has largely focused on left ventricular (LV) function. We aimed to determine whether post-arrest right ventricular (RV) dysfunction predicts worse survival and poor neurologic outcome in cardiac arrest patients, independent of LV dysfunction.
METHODS: A single-center, retrospective cohort study at a tertiary care university hospital participating in the Penn Alliance for Therapeutic Hypothermia (PATH) Registry between 2000 and 2012.
PATIENTS: 291 in- and out-of-hospital adult cardiac arrest patients at the University of Pennsylvania who had return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and post-arrest echocardiograms.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 291 patients, 57% were male, with a mean age of 59 ± 16 years. 179 (63%) patients had LV dysfunction, 173 (59%) had RV dysfunction, and 124 (44%) had biventricular dysfunction on the initial post-arrest echocardiogram. Independent of LV function, RV dysfunction was predictive of worse survival (mild or moderate: OR 0.51, CI 0.26-0.99, p
CONCLUSIONS: Echocardiographic findings of post-arrest RV dysfunction were equally prevalent as LV dysfunction. RV dysfunction was significantly predictive of worse outcomes in post-arrest patients after accounting for LV dysfunction. Post-arrest RV dysfunction may be useful for risk stratification and management in this high-mortality population
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