4,564 research outputs found
The Role of opinion leaders in the diffusion of new knowledge: the case of integrated pest management
The paper reviews the literature on the characteristics and impact of opinion leaders on the diffusion of new knowledge, concluding that there is no clear evidence on whether opinion leaders are more effective if they are similar in socio-economic attributes to the other farmers rather than superior to would-be followers. A multivariate analysis of the changes in integrated pest man- agement knowledge in Indonesia among follower farmers over the period 199198 indicates that opinion leaders who are superior to followers, but not excessively so, are more effective in transmit- ting knowledge. Excessive socio-economic distance is shown to reduce the effectiveness of diffusion. The paper then derives operational implications of the empirical results
Early-type galaxies in the Chandra COSMOS Survey
We study a sample of 69 X-ray detected Early Type Galaxies (ETGs), selected
from the Chandra COSMOS survey, to explore the relation between the X-ray
luminosity of hot gaseous halos (L_X, gas) and the integrated stellar
luminosity (L_K) of the galaxies, in a range of redshift extending out to
z=1.5. In the local universe a tight steep relationship has been stablished
between these two quantities (L_X,gas~ L_K^4.5) suggesting the presence of
largely virialized halos in X-ray luminous systems. We use well established
relations from the study of local universe ETGs, together with the expected
evolution of the X-ray emission, to subtract the contribution of low mass X-ray
binary populations (LMXBs) from the X-ray luminosity of our sample. Our
selection minimizes the presence of active galactic nuclei (AGN), yielding a
sample representative of normal passive COSMOS ETGs; therefore the resulting
luminosity should be representative of gaseous halos, although we cannot
exclude other sources such as obscured AGN, or enhanced X-ray emission
connected with embedded star formation in the higher z galaxies. We find that
most of the galaxies with estimated L_X<10^42 erg/s and z<0.55 follow the
L_X,gas- L_K relation of local universe ETGs. For these galaxies, the
gravitational mass can be estimated with a certain degree of confidence from
the local virial relation. However, the more luminous (10^42<L_X<10^43.5 erg/s)
and distant galaxies present significantly larger scatter; these galaxies also
tend to have younger stellar ages. The divergence from the local L_X,gas - L_K
relation in these galaxies implies significantly enhanced X-ray emission, up to
a factor of 100 larger than predicted from the local relation. We discuss the
implications of this result for the presence of hidden AGN, and the evolution
of hot halos, in the presence of nuclear and star formation feedback.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication on ApJ on May 27 201
Molecular dynamics study of solvation effects on acid dissociation in aprotic media
Acid ionization in aprotic media is studied using Molecular Dynamics
techniques. In particular, models for HCl ionization in acetonitrile and
dimethylsulfoxide are investigated. The proton is treated quantum mechanically
using Feynman path integral methods and the remaining molecules are treated
classically. Quantum effects are shown to be essential for the proper treatment
of the ionization. The potential of mean force is computed as a function of the
ion pair separation and the local solvent structure is examined. The computed
dissociation constants in both solvents differ by several orders of magnitude
which are in reasonable agreement with experimental results. Solvent separated
ion pairs are found to exist in dimethylsulfoxide but not in acetonitrile.
Dissociation mechanisms in small clusters are also investigated. Solvent
separated ion pairs persist even in aggregates composed of rather few
molecules, for instance, as few as thirty molecules. For smaller clusters or
for large ion pair separations cluster finite-size effects come into play in a
significant fashion.Comment: Plain LaTeX. To appear in JCP(March 15). Mpeg simulations available
at http://www.chem.utoronto.ca/staff/REK/Videos/clusters/clusters.htm
Underuse of coronary revascularization procedures in patients considered appropriate candidates for revascularization.
Background: Ratings by an expert panel of the appropriateness of treatments may offer better guidance for clinical practice than the variable decisions of individual clinicians, yet there have been no prospective studies of clinical outcomes. We compared the clinical outcomes of patients treated medically after angiography with those of patients who underwent revascularization, within groups defined by ratings of the degree of appropriateness of revascularization in varying clinical circumstances.Methods: This was a prospective study of consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography at three London hospitals. Before patients were recruited, a nine-member expert panel rated the appropriateness of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG) on a nine-point scale (with 1 denoting highly inappropriate and 9 denoting highly appropriate) for specific clinical indications. These ratings were then applied to a population of patients with coronary artery disease. However, the patients were treated without regard to the ratings. A total of 2552 patients were followed for a median of 30 months after angiography.Results: Of 908 patients with indications for which PTCA was rated appropriate (score, 7 to 9), 34 percent were treated medically; these patients were more likely to have angina at follow-up than those who underwent PTCA (odds ratio, 1.97; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.29 to 3.00). Of 1353 patients with indications for which CABG was considered appropriate, 26 percent were treated medically; they were more likely than those who underwent CABG to die or have a nonfatal myocardial infarction - the composite primary outcome (hazard ratio, 4.08; 95 percent confidence interval, 2.82 to 5.93) - and to have angina (odds ratio, 3.03; 95 percent confidence interval, 2.08 to 4.42). Furthermore, there was a graded relation between rating and outcome over the entire scale of appropriateness (P for linear trend = 0.002).Conclusions: On the basis of the ratings of the expert panel, we identified substantial underuse of coronary revascularization among patients who were considered appropriate candidates for these procedures. Underuse was associated with adverse clinical outcomes. (N Engl J Med 2001;344:645-54.) Copyright (C) 2001 Massachusetts Medical Society
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