Field-Induced Magnetic Transitions in Single Crystals of RZn_2 ( R=Pr, Nd, Dy )(Magnetism)

Temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility and high field magnetism are studied for single crystals of antiferromagnetic compounds PrZn_2, NdZn_2 and DyZn_2. The paramagnetic Curie temperatures are anisotropic and different field-induced transitions are observed along each crystal axis direction

Utilization of complimentary and alternative medicine in primary care : what are the relations between it and conventional medicine?

Backgroud: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) utilization among various groups of patients in western countries is increasing. Objectives: To describe the utilization of various CAM methods in parallel with conventional pri- mary care medicine and the relations between it and conventional medicine. Study Design: Four hundred and eighty patients in two primary care clinics participated in the survey. The participants answered a structured questionnaire, which included socio-demographic information and details of CAM therapy utilization. Results: Eighty percent of those seeking CAM therapy received conventional medical treatment for the same complaint as well. When asked if CAM should be funded 69% agreed, 14% disagreed and 8.3% were undecided. The most frequent causes for using CAM therapy were insufficient improve- ment by conventional treatment (36%), a reluctance to take medications (19%) and willingness to try a new modality (13%). Most of those who received CAM therapy felt it was beneficial and claim they would return to use it in the future under similar circumstances. Conclusions: We found that the term complementary is more appropriate as most patients use CAM in parallel to conventional medicine. Patients using CAM are satisfied and intend to use CAM in the future.peer-reviewe

Brightness, distribution, and evolution of sunspot umbral dots

We present a 106-minute TiO (705.7nm) time series of high spatial and temporal resolution that contains thousands of umbral dots (UDs) in a mature sunspot in the active region NOAA 10667 at $\mu$=0.95. The data were acquired with the 1-m Swedish Solar Telescope on La Palma. With the help of a multilevel tracking (MLT) algorithm the sizes, brightnesses, and trajectories of 12836 umbral dots were found and analyzed. The MLT allows UDs with very low contrast to be reliably identified. Inside the umbra we determine a UD filling factor of 11%. The histogram of UD lifetimes is monotonic, i.e. a UD does not have a typical lifetime. Three quarters of the UDs lived for less than 150s and showed no or little motion. The histogram of the UD diameters exhibits a maximum at 225km, i.e. most of the UDs are spatially resolved. UDs display a typical horizontal velocity of 420m/s and a typical peak intensity of 51% of the mean intensity of the quiet photosphere, making them on average 20% brighter than the local umbral background. Almost all mobile UDs (large birth-death distance) were born close to the umbra-penumbra boundary, move towards the umbral center, and are brighter than average. Notably bright and mobile UDs were also observed along a prominent UD chain, both ends of which are located at the umbra-penumbra boundary. Their motion started primarily at either of the ends of the chain, continued along the chain, and ended near the chain's center. We observed the splitting and merging of UDs and the temporal succession of both. For the first time the evolution of brightness, size, and horizontal speed of a typical UD could be determined in a statistically significant way. Considerable differences between the evolution of central and peripheral UDs are found, which point to a difference in origin

An audit of discharge summaries

Background: In the continuum of patient care, admission to the department of medicine constitutes a brief yet critical period. Subsequent patient care depends on the discharge summary (DS) and its implementation. Aim: To evaluate the department of medicine -family physician interface by a discharge summaries audit. Method: A retrospective study analyzing all admissions and discharges between a department of medicine and a primary care clinic over a period of ten months. Results: 129 DS were evaluated and compared to 97 available primary care medical charts. Most admissions were due to a medical emergency (95%), the patients were often elderly and 23% lived alone. Hospital stay averaged 4.0±2.4 days, readmission rate was 15.8%. In 73% of the DS at least one new drug was prescribed. The family physician was the one expected to continue treatment in most of the cases, but in over a third of the patients, a referral to further consultation was deemed necessary. The DS was found in 82% of the primary care charts. Median time interval between discharge and consultation with the family physician was three days (range 1-30). Home visits by physicians were documented in eight cases only. Conclusion: Most discharged patients require further evaluation and newly prescribed medications, making a timely and coordinated continuous care in the community mandatory. A high quality, rapidly available DS is therefore important for the family physician. Whether improved communication will reduce readmissions and improve patient prognosis and quality of care should be clarified by further study.peer-reviewe

Chromospheric Anemone Jets as Evidence of Ubiquitous Reconnection

The heating of the solar chromosphere and corona is a long-standing puzzle in solar physics. Hinode observations show the ubiquitous presence of chromospheric anemone jets outside sunspots in active regions. They are typically 3 to 7 arc seconds = 2000 to 5000 kilometers long and 0.2 to 0.4 arc second = 150 to 300 kilometers wide, and their velocity is 10 to 20 kilometers per second. These small jets have an inverted Y-shape, similar to the shape of x-ray anemone jets in the corona. These features imply that magnetic reconnection similar to that in the corona is occurring at a much smaller spatial scale throughout the chromosphere and suggest that the heating of the solar chromosphere and corona may be related to small-scale ubiquitous reconnection.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Localised plumes in three-dimensional compressible magnetoconvection

Within the umbrae of sunspots, convection is generally inhibited by the presence of strong vertical magnetic fields. However, convection is not completely suppressed in these regions: bright features, known as umbral dots, are probably associated with weak, isolated convective plumes. Motivated by observations of umbral dots, we carry out numerical simulations of three-dimensional, compressible magnetoconvection. By following solution branches into the subcritical parameter regime (a region of parameter space in which the static solution is linearly stable to convective perturbations), we find that it is possible to generate a solution which is characterised by a single, isolated convective plume. This solution is analogous to the steady magnetohydrodynamic convectons that have previously been found in two-dimensional calculations. These results can be related, in a qualitative sense, to observations of umbral dots.Comment: submitted to MNRA

The facial nucleus of cat: Antidromic and synaptic activation and peripheral nerve representation

The facial nucleus (FN) of the cat was studied by electrophysiological method for (1) general characteristics of the FN neurons during antidromic activation, (2) topographical representation of the peripheral branches of the facial nerve and (3) synaptic activities induced in the FN neurons following peripheral facial nerve stimulation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46540/1/221_2004_Article_BF00233995.pd

Chemotherapeutic Treatment of Priapism in Metastatic Rectal Cancer

A 65-year-old man was admitted with penile tenderness and dysuria due to priapism. Enhanced computed tomography revealed metastatic tumors in the liver, lung, sacrum and lymph nodes. Advanced rectal cancer, detected by colonoscopy as a primary tumor, was treated with chemotherapy (FOLFOX4). Although the rectal cancer showed no change, five months of chemotherapy improveid the priapism, suggesting that chemotherapy can improve rare symptoms of rectal cancer

Primary care follow up of patients discharged from the emergency department: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: The visit to the emergency department (ED) constitutes a brief, yet an important point in the continuum of medical care. The aim of our study was to evaluate the continuity of care of adult ED visitors. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all ED discharge summaries for over a month 's period. The ED chart, referral letter and the patient's primary care file were reviewed. Data collected included: age, gender, date and hour of ED visit, documentation of ED referral and ED discharge letter in the primary care file. RESULTS: 359 visits were eligible for the study. 192 (53.5%) of the patients were women, average age 54.1 ± 18.7 years (mean ± SD). 214 (59.6%) of the visits were during working hours of primary care clinics ("working hours"), while the rest were "out of hours" visits. Only 196 (54.6%) of patients had a referral letter, usually from their family physician. A third (71/214) of "working hours" visits were self referrals, the rate rose to 63.5% (92/145) of "out of hours" visits (p < 0.0001). The ED discharge letter was found in 50% (179/359) of the primary care files. A follow-up visit was documented in only 31% (111/359). Neither follow up visit nor discharge letter were found in 43% of the files (153/359). CONCLUSIONS: We have found a high rate of ED self referrals throughout the day together with low documentation rates of ED visits in the primary care charts. Our findings point to a poor continuity of care of ED attendees

Spectro-Polarimetric Observation of an Emerging Flux Region: Triggering Mechanism of Ellerman Bombs

High spatial resolution observation of an emerging flux region (EFR) was done using a vector magnetograph and a H-alpha Lyot filtergraph with Domeless Solar Telescope at Hida Observatory on October 22, 2006. In H-alpha wing images, we could see many Ellerman bombs (EBs) in the EFR. Two observation modes, slit scan and slit fixed, were performed with the vector magnetograph, along with H-alpha filtergraph. Using H-alpha wing images, we detected 12 EBs during slit scan observation period and 9 EBs during slit fixed observation period. With slit scan observation, we found that all the EBs were distributed in the area where the spatial gradient of vertical field intensity was large, which indicates the possibility of rapid topological change in magnetic field in the area of EBs. With slit fixed observation, we found that EBs were distributed in the areas of undulatory magnetic fields, both in vertical and horizontal components. This paper is the first to report the undulatory pattern in horizontal components of magnetic field, which is also evidence for emerging magnetic flux by Parker instability. These results allow us to confirm the association between EBs and emerging flux tubes. Three triggering mechanism of EBs is discussed with respect to emerging flux tubes: 9 out of 21 EBs occurred at the footpoints of emerging flux tubes, 8 out of 21 EBs occurred at the top of emerging flux tubes, and 4 out of 21 EBs occurred at unipolar region. Each case can be explained by magnetic reconnection in the low chromosphere.Comment: 30 pages, 17 figure