2,067 research outputs found
Randomised trials relevant to mental health conducted in low and middle-income countries: protocol for a survey of studies published in 1991, 1995 and 2000 and assessment of their relevance
BACKGROUND
A substantial proportion of the psychiatric burden of disease falls on the world's poorest nations. Despite this, relatively little is known about the quality and content of clinical research undertaken in these countries, or the relevance of the interventions evaluated and specifically that of randomised trials.
This project aims to survey the content, quality and accessibility of a sample of trials relevant to mental health conducted within low and middle-income countries; to compare these with studies conducted in high-income countries; and to assess their relevance for the needs of low and middle-income countries.
METHODS
An extensive search for all trials, or possible trials, published in 1991, 1995 and 2000 with participants in low and middle-income countries has already been conducted. Studies evaluating prevention or treatment of a mental health problem within these three years will be identified and further searches conducted to assess completeness of the initial search. Data on study quality and characteristics will be extracted from each report. Accessibility will be estimated based on whether each citation is available on MEDLINE. Trials relevant to schizophrenia will be compared with a random sample of schizophrenia trials from high-income countries in the same years. Topics covered by the trials will be compared with the estimated burden of disease.
CONCLUSION
Trials and systematic reviews of trials are the gold standard of evaluation of care and increasingly provide the basis for recommendations to clinicians, to providers of care and to policy makers. Results from this study will present the first assessment of the scope, quality and accessibility of mental health trials in low and middle-income countries
First Direct Measurement of Jets in GeV Heavy Ion Collisions by STAR
We present the first measurement of reconstructed jets in ultra-relativistic
heavy ion collisions. Utilizing the large coverage of the STAR Time Projection
Chamber and Electromagnetic Calorimeter, we apply several modern jet
reconstruction algorithms and background subtraction techniques and explore
their systematic uncertainties in heavy ion events. The differential spectrum
for inclusive jet production in central Au+Au collisions at GeV is presented. In order to assess the jet reconstruction biases, this
spectrum is compared with the jet cross section measured in GeV
p+p collisions scaled by the number of binary N-N collisions to account for
nuclear geometric effects.Comment: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Hard and Electro-
Magnetic Probes of High-Energy Nuclear Collisions 8-14 June 2008, Illa da
Toxa (Galicia-Spain
Strange prospects for LHC energies
Strange quark and hadron production will be studied at the Large Hadron
Collider (LHC) energies in order to explore the properties of both pp and
heavy-ion collisions. The ALICE experiment will be specifically efficient in
the strange sector with the identification of baryons and mesons over a wide
range of transverse momentum. Dedicated measurements are proposed for
investigating chemical equilibration and bulk properties. Strange particles can
also help to probe kinematical regions where hard processes and pQCD dominate.
We try to anticipate here several ALICE analyses to be performed as the first
Pb--Pb and pp data will be available.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of Hot Quarks 2006,
Villasimius, Italy, 15-20 May 200
Depinning of a superfluid vortex line by Kelvin waves
We measure the interaction of a single superfluid vortex with surface
irregularities. While vortex pinning in superconductors usually becomes weaker
at higher temperatures, we find the opposite behavior. The pinning steadily
increases throughout our measurement range, from 0.15Tc to over 0.5Tc. We also
find that moving the other end of the vortex decreases the pinning, so we
propose Kelvin waves along the vortex as a depinning mechanism.Comment: 5 figures; substantial revision including 2 new figure
On the stability of travelling waves with vorticity obtained by minimisation
We modify the approach of Burton and Toland [Comm. Pure Appl. Math. (2011)]
to show the existence of periodic surface water waves with vorticity in order
that it becomes suited to a stability analysis. This is achieved by enlarging
the function space to a class of stream functions that do not correspond
necessarily to travelling profiles. In particular, for smooth profiles and
smooth stream functions, the normal component of the velocity field at the free
boundary is not required a priori to vanish in some Galilean coordinate system.
Travelling periodic waves are obtained by a direct minimisation of a functional
that corresponds to the total energy and that is therefore preserved by the
time-dependent evolutionary problem (this minimisation appears in Burton and
Toland after a first maximisation). In addition, we not only use the
circulation along the upper boundary as a constraint, but also the total
horizontal impulse (the velocity becoming a Lagrange multiplier). This allows
us to preclude parallel flows by choosing appropriately the values of these two
constraints and the sign of the vorticity. By stability, we mean conditional
energetic stability of the set of minimizers as a whole, the perturbations
being spatially periodic of given period.Comment: NoDEA Nonlinear Differential Equations and Applications, to appea
Superconducting Properties of MgCNi3 Films
We report the magnetotransport properties of thin polycrystalline films of
the recently discovered non-oxide perovskite superconductor MgCNi3. CNi3
precursor films were deposited onto sapphire substrates and subsequently
exposed to Mg vapor at 700 C. We report transition temperatures (Tc) and
critical field values (Hc2) of MgCNi3 films ranging in thickness from 7.5 nm to
100 nm. Films thicker than ~40 nm have a Tc ~ 8 K, and an upper critical field
Hc2 ~ 14 T, which are both comparable to that of polycrystalline powders. Hall
measurements in the normal state give a carrier density, n =-4.2 x 10^22 cm^-3,
that is approximately 4 times that reported for bulk samples.Comment: submitted to PR
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Deployment evaluation methodology for the electrometallurgical treatment of DOE-EM spent nuclear fuel
Part of the Department of Energy (DOE) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) inventory may require some type of treatment to meet acceptance criteria at various disposition sites. The current focus for much of this spent nuclear fuel is the electrometallurgical treatment process under development at Argonne National Laboratory. Potential flowsheets for this treatment process are presented. Deployment of the process for the treatment of the spent nuclear fuel requires evaluation to determine the spent nuclear fuel program need for treatment and compatibility of the spent nuclear fuel with the process. The evaluation of need includes considerations of cost, technical feasibility, process material disposition, and schedule to treat a proposed fuel. A siting evaluation methodology has been developed to account for these variables. A work breakdown structure is proposed to gather life-cycle cost information to allow evaluation of alternative siting strategies on a similar basis. The evaluation methodology, while created specifically for the electrometallurgical evaluation, has been written such that it could be applied to any potential treatment process that is a disposition option for spent nuclear fuel. Future work to complete the evaluation of the process for electrometallurgical treatment is discussed
A Short Review on Jet Identification
Jets can be used to probe the physical properties of the high energy density
matter created in collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC).
Measurements of strong suppression of inclusive hadron distributions and
di-hadron correlations at high have already provided evidence for
partonic energy loss. However, these measurements suffer from well-known
geometric biases due to the competition of energy loss and fragmentation. These
biases can be avoided if the jets are reconstructed independently of their
fragmentation details - quenched or unquenched. In this paper, we discuss
modern jet reconstruction algorithms (cone and sequential recombination) and
their corresponding background subtraction techniques required by the high
multiplicities of heavy ion collisions. We review recent results from the STAR
experiment at RHIC on direct jet reconstruction in central Au+Au collisions at
GeV.Comment: Proceedings for the invited talk of Hot Quarks 2008, Estes Park, CO
18-23 August 200
Jet hadrochemistry as a characteristics of jet quenching
Jets produced in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC are expected to be
strongly modified due to the interaction of the parton shower with the dense
QCD matter. Here, we point out that jet quenching can leave signatures not only
in the longitudinal and transverse jet energy and multiplicity distributions,
but also in the hadrochemical composition of the jet fragments. In particular,
we show that even in the absence of medium effects at or after hadronization,
the medium-modification of the parton shower can result in significant changes
in jet hadrochemistry. We discuss how jet hadrochemistry can be studied within
the high-multiplicity environment of nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, LaTe
Defining biodiverse reforestation: Why it matters for climate change mitigation and biodiversity
Reforestation to capture and store atmospheric carbon is increasingly championed as a climate change mitigation policy response. Reforestation plantings have the potential to provide conservation co-benefits when diverse mixtures of native species are planted, and there are growing attempts to monetise biodiversity benefits from carbon reforestation projects, particularly within emerging carbon markets. But what is meant by ‘biodiverse’ across different stakeholders and groups implementing and overseeing these projects and how do these perceptions compare with long-standing scientific definitions? Here, we discuss approaches to, and definitions of, biodiversity in the context of reforestation for carbon sequestration. Our aim is to review how the concept of biodiversity is defined and applied among stakeholders (e.g., governments, carbon certifiers and farmers) and rights holders (i.e., First Nations people) engaging in reforestation, and to identify best-practice methods for restoring biodiversity in these projects. We find that some stakeholders have a vague understanding of diversity across varying levels of biological organisation (genes to ecosystems). While most understand that biodiversity underpins ecosystem functions and services, many stakeholders may not appreciate the difficulties of restoring biodiversity akin to reference ecosystems. Consequently, biodiversity goals are rarely explicit, and project goals may never be achieved because the levels of restored biodiversity are inadequate to support functional ecosystems and desired ecosystem services. We suggest there is significant value in integrating biodiversity objectives into reforestation projects and setting specific restoration goals with transparent reporting outcomes will pave the way for ensuring reforestation projects have meaningful outcomes for biodiversity, and legitimate incentive payments for biodiversity and natural capital accounting
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