20,506 research outputs found
The Eurovision St Andrews collection of photographs
This report describes the Eurovision image collection compiled for the ImageCLEF (Cross Language Evaluation Forum) evaluation exercise. The image collection consists of around 30,000 photographs from the collection provided by the University of St Andrews Library. The construction and composition of this unique image collection are described, together with the necessary information to obtain and use the image collection
Radiation Information from 1958 δ2
The telemetered radiation information from the satellite 1958 δ2
(Sputnik III) has been analyzed for sixty-two separate passes recorded
in College, Alaska. The data indicate a dependence of radiation intensity
on altitude in the range 250-500 km. Both the high and low
energy components apparently contribute to the overall increase of
intensity with altitude, but the presence of a continuous afterglow
in the scintillating crystal prevented detailed interpretation of the
results.IGY Project No. 32.42
NSF Grant No. Y/32.42/268Ye
Can we evaluate population screening strategies in UK general practice? A pilot randomised controlled trial comparing postal and opportunistic screening for genital chlamydial infection
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess whether opportunistic and postal screening strategies for Chlamydia trachomatis can be compared with usual care in a randomised trial in general practice
DESIGN: Feasibility study for a randomised controlled trial.
SETTING: Three West of Scotland general medical practices: one rural, one urban/deprived and one urban/affluent.
PARTICIPANTS: 600 women aged 16-30 years, 200 from each of three participating practices selected at random from a sample of West of Scotland practices that had expressed interest in the study. The women could opt out of the study. Those who did not were randomly assigned to one of three groups: postal screening, opportunistic screening or usual care.
MAIN RESULTS: 38% (85/221) of the approached practices expressed interest in the study. Data were collected successfully from the 3 participating practices, although intensive support was required. There were considerable workload implications for staff, both in relation to implementing the screening strategies and managing the research process.
124 of the 600 women opted out of the study. During the four-month study period, 55% (81/146) of the control group attended their practice but none was offered screening. 59% (80/136) women in the opportunistic group attended their practice of whom 55% (44/80) were offered screening. Of those, 64% (28/44) accepted, representing 21% of the opportunistic group. 48% (59/124) of the postal group returned samples.
CONCLUSION: A randomised controlled trial comparing postal and opportunistic screening for chlamydial infection in general practice is feasible, though resource intensive. There may be problems with generalising from screening trials in which patients may opt out from the offer of screening
A systematic review of predictions of survival in palliative care: How accurate are clinicians and who are the experts?
Background - Prognostic accuracy in palliative care is valued by patients, carers, and healthcare professionals. Previous reviews suggest clinicians are inaccurate at survival estimates, but have only reported the accuracy of estimates on patients with a cancer diagnosis.
Objectives - To examine the accuracy of clinicians’ estimates of survival and to determine if any clinical profession is better at doing so than another.
Data Sources - MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Trials. All databases were searched from the start of the database up to June 2015. Reference lists of eligible articles were also checked.
Eligibility Criteria - Inclusion criteria: patients over 18, palliative population and setting, quantifiable estimate based on real patients, full publication written in English. Exclusion criteria: if the estimate was following an intervention, such as surgery, or the patient was artificially ventilated or in intensive care.
Study Appraisal and Synthesis Methods - A quality assessment was completed with the QUIPS tool. Data on the reported accuracy of estimates and information about the clinicians were extracted. Studies were grouped by type of estimate: categorical (the clinician had a predetermined list of outcomes to choose from), continuous (open-ended estimate), or probabilistic (likelihood of surviving a particular time frame).
Results - 4,642 records were identified; 42 studies fully met the review criteria. Wide variation was shown with categorical estimates (range 23% to 78%) and continuous estimates ranged between an underestimate of 86 days to an overestimate of 93 days. The four papers which used probabilistic estimates tended to show greater accuracy (c-statistics of 0.74–0.78). Information available about the clinicians providing the estimates was limited. Overall, there was no clear “expert” subgroup of clinicians identified.
Limitations - High heterogeneity limited the analyses possible and prevented an overall accuracy being reported. Data were extracted using a standardised tool, by one reviewer, which could have introduced bias. Devising search terms for prognostic studies is challenging. Every attempt was made to devise search terms that were sufficiently sensitive to detect all prognostic studies; however, it remains possible that some studies were not identified.
Conclusion - Studies of prognostic accuracy in palliative care are heterogeneous, but the evidence suggests that clinicians’ predictions are frequently inaccurate. No sub-group of clinicians was consistently shown to be more accurate than any other
Is there a Supermassive Black Hole at the Center of the Milky Way?
This review outlines the observations that now provide an overwhelming
scientific case that the center of our Milky Way Galaxy harbors a supermassive
black hole. Observations at infrared wavelength trace stars that orbit about a
common focal position and require a central mass (M) of 4 million solar masses
within a radius of 100 Astronomical Units. Orbital speeds have been observed to
exceed 5,000 km/s. At the focal position there is an extremely compact radio
source (Sgr A*), whose apparent size is near the Schwarzschild radius
(2GM/c^2). This radio source is motionless at the ~1 km/s level at the
dynamical center of the Galaxy. The mass density required by these observations
is now approaching the ultimate limit of a supermassive black hole within the
last stable orbit for matter near the event horizon.Comment: Invited review submitted to International Journal of Modern Physics
D; 23 pages; 10 figure
Inclusion of fermented foods in food guides around the world
Fermented foods have been a well-established part of the human diet for thousands of years, without much of an appreciation for, or an understanding of, their underlying microbial functionality, until recently. The use of many organisms derived from these foods, and their applications in probiotics, have further illustrated their impact on gastrointestinal wellbeing and diseases affecting other sites in the body. However, despite the many benefits of fermented foods, their recommended consumption has not been widely translated to global inclusion in food guides. Here, we present the case for such inclusion, and challenge health authorities around the world to consider advocating for the many benefits of these foods
Deletions of the derivative chromosome 9 occur at the time of the Philadelphia translocation and provide a powerful and independent prognostic indicator in chronic myeloid leukemia
Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is characterized by formation of the BCR-ABL fusion gene, usually as a consequence of the Philadelphia (Ph) translocation between chromosomes 9 and 22. Large deletions on the derivative chromosome 9 have recently been reported, but it was unclear whether deletions arose during disease progression or at the time of the Ph translocation. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis was used to assess the deletion status of 253 patients with CML. The strength of deletion status as a prognostic indicator was then compared to the Sokal and Hasford scoring systems. The frequency of deletions was similar at diagnosis and after disease progression but was significantly increased in patients with variant Ph translocations. In patients with a deletion, all Ph+ metaphases carried the deletion. The median survival of patients with and without deletions was 38 months and 88 months, respectively (P = .0001). By contrast the survival difference between Sokal or Hasford high-risk and non-high-risk patients was of only borderline significance (P = .057 and P = .034). The results indicate that deletions occur at the time of the Ph translocation. An apparently simple reciprocal translocation may therefore result in considerable genetic heterogeneity ab initio, a concept that is likely to apply to other malignancies associated with translocations. Deletion status is also a powerful and independent prognostic factor for patients with CML. The prognostic significance of deletion status should now be studied prospectively and, if confirmed, should be incorporated into management decisions and the analysis of clinical trials. (C) 2001 by The American Society of Hematology
Nodes in the gap structure of the iron-arsenide superconductor Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_x)_2As_2 from c-axis heat transport measurements
The thermal conductivity k of the iron-arsenide superconductor
Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_x)_2As_2 was measured down to 50 mK for a heat current parallel
(k_c) and perpendicular (k_a) to the tetragonal c axis, for seven Co
concentrations from underdoped to overdoped regions of the phase diagram (0.038
< x < 0.127). A residual linear term k_c0/T is observed in the T = 0 limit when
the current is along the c axis, revealing the presence of nodes in the gap.
Because the nodes appear as x moves away from the concentration of maximal T_c,
they must be accidental, not imposed by symmetry, and are therefore compatible
with an s_{+/-} state, for example. The fact that the in-plane residual linear
term k_a0/T is negligible at all x implies that the nodes are located in
regions of the Fermi surface that contribute strongly to c-axis conduction and
very little to in-plane conduction. Application of a moderate magnetic field
(e.g. H_c2/4) excites quasiparticles that conduct heat along the a axis just as
well as the nodal quasiparticles conduct along the c axis. This shows that the
gap must be very small (but non-zero) in regions of the Fermi surface which
contribute significantly to in-plane conduction. These findings can be
understood in terms of a strong k dependence of the gap Delta(k) which produces
nodes on a Fermi surface sheet with pronounced c-axis dispersion and deep
minima on the remaining, quasi-two-dimensional sheets.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures
On the Correlation between the Magnetic Activity Levels, the Metallicities and the Radii of Low-Mass Stars
The recent burst in the number of radii measurements of very low-mass stars
from eclipsing binaries and interferometry of single stars has opened more
questions about what can be causing the discrepancy between the observed radii
and the ones predicted by the models. The two main explanations being proposed
are a correlation between the radius of the stars and their activity levels or
their metallicities. This paper presents a study of such correlations using all
the data published to date. The study also investigates correlations between
the radii deviation from the models and the masses of the stars. There is no
clear correlation between activity level and radii for the single stars in the
sample. Those single stars are slow rotators with typical velocities v_rot sini
< 3.0 km s^-1. A clear correlation however exists in the case of the faster
rotating members of binaries. This result is based on the of X-ray emission
levels of the stars. There also appears to be an increase in the deviation of
the radii of single stars from the models as a function of metallicity, as
previously indicated by Berger et al. (2006). The stars in binaries do not seem
to follow the same trend. Finally, the Baraffe et al. (1998) models reproduce
well the radius observations below 0.30-0.35Msun, where the stars become fully
convective, although this result is preliminary since almost all the sample
stars in that mass range are slow rotators and metallicities have not been
measured for most of them. The results in this paper indicate that stellar
activity and metallicity play an important role on the determination of the
radius of very low-mass stars, at least above 0.35Msun.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication on Ap
Large Magnetic Fields and Motions of OH Masers in W75 N
We report on a second epoch of VLBA observations of the 1665 and 1667 MHz OH
masers in the massive star-forming region W75 N. We find evidence to confirm
the existence of very strong (~40 mG) magnetic fields near source VLA 2. The
masers near VLA 2 are dynamically distinct and include a very bright spot
apparently moving at 50 km/s relative to those around VLA 1. This fast-moving
spot may be an example of a rare class of OH masers seen in outflows in
star-forming regions. Due to the variability of these masers and the rapidity
of their motions, tracking these motions will require multiple observations
over a significantly shorter time baseline than obtained here. Proper motions
of the masers near VLA 1 are more suggestive of streaming along magnetized
shocks rather than Keplerian rotation in a disk. The motions of the easternmost
cluster of masers in W75 N (B) may be tracing slow expansion around an unseen
exciting source.Comment: 7 pages including 4 figures (2 color) & 3 tables, to appear in Ap
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