429 research outputs found
NAM 2017 report: A national plan to eliminate hepatitis B and C in the United States by 2030 and the AASLD’s response
Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138352/1/hep29361.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138352/2/hep29361_am.pd
Directed avalanche processes with underlying interface dynamics
We describe a directed avalanche model; a slowly unloading sandbox driven by
lowering a retaining wall. The directness of the dynamics allows us to
interpret the stable sand surfaces as world sheets of fluctuating interfaces in
one lower dimension. In our specific case, the interface growth dynamics
belongs to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class. We formulate
relations between the critical exponents of the various avalanche distributions
and those of the roughness of the growing interface. The nonlinear nature of
the underlying KPZ dynamics provides a nontrivial test of such generic exponent
relations. The numerical values of the avalanche exponents are close to the
conventional KPZ values, but differ sufficiently to warrant a detailed study of
whether avalanche correlated Monte Carlo sampling changes the scaling exponents
of KPZ interfaces. We demonstrate that the exponents remain unchanged, but that
the traces left on the surface by previous avalanches give rise to unusually
strong finite-size corrections to scaling. This type of slow convergence seems
intrinsic to avalanche dynamics.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure
An Interface View of Directed Sandpile Dynamics
We present a directed unloading sand box type avalanche model, driven by
slowly lowering the retaining wall at the bottom of the slope. The avalanche
propagation in the two dimensional surface is related to the space-time
configurations of one dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) type interface
growth dynamics. We express the scaling exponents for the avalanche cluster
distributions into that framework. The numerical results agree closely with KPZ
scaling, but not perfectly.Comment: 4 pages including 5 figure
SARS Transmission among Hospital Workers in Hong Kong
Despite infection control measures, breakthrough transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) occurred for many hospital workers in Hong Kong. We conducted a case-control study of 72 hospital workers with SARS and 144 matched controls. Inconsistent use of goggles, gowns, gloves, and caps was associated with a higher risk for SARS infection (unadjusted odds ratio 2.42 to 20.54, p < 0.05). The likelihood of SARS infection was strongly associated with the amount of personal protection equipment perceived to be inadequate, having <2 hours of infection control training, and not understanding infection control procedures. No significant differences existed between the case and control groups in the proportion of workers who performed high-risk procedures, reported minor protection equipment problems, or had social contact with SARS-infected persons. Perceived inadequacy of personal protection equipment supply, infection control training <2 hours, and inconsistent use of personal protection equipment when in contact with SARS patients were significant independent risk factors for SARS infection
Discrete kink dynamics in hydrogen-bonded chains I: The one-component model
We study topological solitary waves (kinks and antikinks) in a nonlinear
one-dimensional Klein-Gordon chain with the on-site potential of a double-Morse
type. This chain is used to describe the collective proton dynamics in
quasi-one-dimensional networks of hydrogen bonds, where the on-site potential
plays role of the proton potential in the hydrogen bond. The system supports a
rich variety of stationary kink solutions with different symmetry properties.
We study the stability and bifurcation structure of all these stationary kink
states. An exactly solvable model with a piecewise ``parabola-constant''
approximation of the double-Morse potential is suggested and studied
analytically. The dependence of the Peierls-Nabarro potential on the system
parameters is studied. Discrete travelling-wave solutions of a narrow permanent
profile are shown to exist, depending on the anharmonicity of the Morse
potential and the cooperativity of the hydrogen bond (the coupling constant of
the interaction between nearest-neighbor protons).Comment: 12 pages, 20 figure
Viral Load Distribution in SARS Outbreak
Airborne transmission may have resulted in an outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong
Do Relatively More Efficient Firms Demand Additional Audit Effort (Hours)?
We examine whether firms with higher relative efficiency (operational performance) require additional audit effort (hours) to signal audit quality to demonstrate that their financial reporting systems are robust. Therefore, we use a Korean sample of publicly listed firms because of the Korean audit hour policy which mandates that audit hour information be made available for market participants. We find that client firms with higher relative efficiency have higher audit hours, suggesting that management has an incentive to demand additional audit hours for signalling purposes, and that shareholders, amongst other stakeholders, have an incentive to demand external monitoring to reduce potential agency problems. The results show that relative efficiency is a unique measure of firm performance that can provide insights into a client firm's business and audit risk. We also find evidence suggesting that audit firms do not subject clients to a fee (fee per hour) premium based on relative efficiency, supporting our finding that client firms require audit effort for signalling purposes. Thus, our results have important implications for policymakers about audit effort demand
Systemic Delivery of Oncolytic Adenoviruses Targeting Transforming Growth Factor-β Inhibits Established Bone Metastasis in a Prostate Cancer Mouse Model
Abstract We have examined whether Ad.sT?RFc and TAd.sT?RFc, two oncolytic viruses expressing soluble transforming growth factor-? receptor II fused with human Fc (sTGF?RIIFc), can be developed to treat bone metastasis of prostate cancer. Incubation of PC-3 and DU-145 prostate tumor cells with Ad.sT?RFc and TAd.sT?RFc produced sTGF?RIIFc and viral replication; sTGF?RIIFc caused inhibition of TGF-?-mediated SMAD2 and SMAD3 phosphorylation. Ad(E1-).sT?RFc, an E1? adenovirus, produced sTGF?RIIFc but failed to replicate in tumor cells. To examine the antitumor response of adenoviral vectors, PC-3-luc cells were injected into the left heart ventricle of nude mice. On day 9, mice were subjected to whole-body bioluminescence imaging (BLI). Mice bearing hind-limb tumors were administered viral vectors via the tail vein on days 10, 13, and 17 (2.5?1010 viral particles per injection per mouse, each injection in a 0.1-ml volume), and subjected to BLI and X-ray radiography weekly until day 53. Ad.sT?RFc, TAd.sT?RFc, and Ad(E1-).sT?RFc caused significant inhibition of tumor growth; however, Ad.sT?RFc was the most effective among all the vectors. Only Ad.sT?RFc and TAd.sT?RFc inhibited tumor-induced hypercalcemia. Histomorphometric and synchrotron micro-computed tomographic analysis of isolated bones indicated that Ad.sT?RFc induced significant reduction in tumor burden, osteoclast number, and trabecular and cortical bone destruction. These studies suggest that Ad.sT?RFc and TAd.sT?RFc can be developed as potential new therapies for prostate cancer bone metastasis.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98454/1/hum%2E2012%2E040.pd
Do Relatively More Efficient Firms Demand Additional Audit Effort (Hours)?
We examine whether firms with higher relative efficiency (operational performance) require additional audit effort (hours) to signal audit quality to demonstrate that their financial reporting systems are robust. Therefore, we use a Korean sample of publicly listed firms because of the Korean audit hour policy which mandates that audit hour information be made available for market participants. We find that client firms with higher relative efficiency have higher audit hours, suggesting that management has an incentive to demand additional audit hours for signalling purposes, and that shareholders, amongst other stakeholders, have an incentive to demand external monitoring to reduce potential agency problems. The results show that relative efficiency is a unique measure of firm performance that can provide insights into a client firm's business and audit risk. We also find evidence suggesting that audit firms do not subject clients to a fee (fee per hour) premium based on relative efficiency, supporting our finding that client firms require audit effort for signalling purposes. Thus, our results have important implications for policymakers about audit effort demand
Complementarity of the CERN Large Hadron Collider and the International Linear Collider
The next-generation high-energy facilities, the CERN Large Hadron Collider
(LHC) and the prospective International Linear Collider (ILC), are
expected to unravel new structures of matter and forces from the electroweak
scale to the TeV scale. In this report we review the complementary role of LHC
and ILC in drawing a comprehensive and high-precision picture of the mechanism
breaking the electroweak symmetries and generating mass, and the unification of
forces in the frame of supersymmetry.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figures, to be published in "Supersymmetry on the Eve of
the LHC", a special volume of European Physical Journal C, Particles and
Fields (EPJC) in memory of Julius Wes
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