1,071 research outputs found
Coherent back-scattering near the two-dimensional metal-insulator transition
We have studied corrections to conductivity due to the coherent
backscattering in low-disordered two-dimensional electron systems in silicon
for a range of electron densities including the vicinity of the metal-insulator
transition, where the dramatic increase of the spin susceptibility has been
observed earlier. We show that the corrections, which exist deeper in the
metallic phase, weaken upon approaching to the transition and practically
vanish at the critical density, thus suggesting that the localization is
suppressed near and at the transition even in zero field.Comment: to appear in PR
Factors associated with Mortality in Adults admitted with Heart Failure at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia
Background: Heart failure is a major public health problem and has been recognized as an important cause of morbidity and mortality for several years. It is one of the leading non-infectious causes of death among hospitalized patients at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka, Zambia. This study aimed to investigate the predictors of 30-day mortality in heart failure patients admitted to the medical wards at the UTH using routinely obtained clinical data.Methods: We enrolled 390 heart failure patients and followed them up over a period of 30 days. Data collected included demographic characteristics (age, sex), medication use and co-morbidities (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection). Clinical data included vital signs, blood urea, serum sodium, serum potassium, serum creatinine, and haemoglobin level. Trans-thoracic echocardiographs and electrocardiographs were also done to determine left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and to check for the presence of arrhythmias. Patients were dichotomized into those with preserved (LVEF>=40 percent) and reduced (LVEF< 40 percent) systolic function. Recruited patients were then prospectively followed up to determine outcome by day 30 (i.e. dead or alive). Cox proportion Hazard regression analysis (on Epi Info software version 3.5.3) was used to analyse the effect of each of these parameters on outcome.Results: Of the recruited patients, 59% were female (95% CI 54-64). The median age was 50 years (IQR 33-68). 138 patients (35%, 95% CI 31-40) died within 30 days of admission. 94 (68%) of these deaths occurred in-hospital. The factors shown to be independent predictors of death onmultivariate logistic regression analysis were LVEF<40 percent (OR=2.86, 95%CI 1.68- 4.87), NYHA class IV (OR=2.15, 95%CI 1.27- 3.64),serum urea above 15mmol/L (OR=2.48, 95%CI 1.07-5.70), and haemoglobin level below 12g/dL (OR=1.79, 95%CI 1.11- 2.89).The additional factor associated with increased risk of mortality on univariate analysis wassystolic blood pressure below 115mmHg (OR=1.63, 95%CI 1.05- 2.51). However, serum creatinine (OR=1.49, 95%CI 0.49-4.48) and HIV seropositivity (OR=0.96, 95% CI 0.53-1.72)had no bearing on the risk of death in this patient population.Conclusions: Left ventricular ejection fraction <40 percent, New York Heart Association class IV, serum urea above 15mmol/L, haemoglobin level below 12g/dLand systolic blood pressure below 115mmHg are predictors of poor 30-day outcome in hospitalised heart failure patients
Pauli spin susceptibility of a strongly correlated two-dimensional electron liquid
Thermodynamic measurements reveal that the Pauli spin susceptibility of
strongly correlated two-dimensional electrons in silicon grows critically at
low electron densities - behavior that is characteristic of the existence of a
phase transition.Comment: As publishe
Cloud-native databases : an application perspective
As cloud computing technologies evolve to better support hosted software applications, software development businesses are faced with a multitude of options to migrate to the cloud. A key concern is the management of data. Research on cloud-native applications has guided the construction of highly elastically scalable and resilient stateless applications, while there is no corresponding concept for cloud-native databases yet. In particular, it is not clear what the trade-offs between using self-managed database services as part of the application and provider-managed database services are. We contribute an overview about the available options, a testbed to compare the options in a systematic way, and an analysis of selected benchmark results produced during the cloud migration of a commercial document management application
Compressibility of a two-dimensional hole gas in tilted magnetic field
We have measured compressibility of a two-dimensional hole gas in
p-GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure, grown on a (100) surface, in the presence of a
tilted magnetic field. It turns out that the parallel component of magnetic
field affects neither the spin splitting nor the density of states. We conclude
that: (a) g-factor in the parallel magnetic field is nearly zero in this
system; and (b) the level of the disorder potential is not sensitive to the
parallel component of the magnetic field
TREM2 is down-regulated by HSV1 in microglia and involved in antiviral defense in the brain
Immunological control of viral infections in the brain exerts immediate protection and also long-term maintenance of brain integrity. Microglia are important for antiviral defense in the brain. Here, we report that herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) infection of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived microglia down-regulates expression of genes in the TREM2 pathway. TREM2 was found to be important for virus-induced IFNB induction through the DNA-sensing cGAS-STING pathway in microglia and for phagocytosis of HSV1-infected neurons. Consequently, TREM2 depletion increased susceptibility to HSV1 infection in human microglia-neuron cocultures and in the mouse brain. TREM2 augmented STING signaling and activation of downstream targets TBK1 and IRF3. Thus, TREM2 is important for the antiviral immune response in microglia. Since TREM2 loss-of-function mutations and HSV1 serological status are both linked to Alzheimer's disease, this work poses the question whether genetic or virus-induced alterations of TREM2 activity predispose to post-infection neurological pathologies
Assessment of the visual quality of ornamental plants: Comparison of three methodologies in the case of the rosebush
The quality of ornamental plants can be appraised with several types of criteria: tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, development potentialities and aesthetics. This last criterion, aesthetic quality, is specific to ornamental plants and objective measurements are required. Three methodologies for measuring aesthetic quality have been proposed. The first involves classical measurements of morphological features, such as flower number and diameter or leaf size. The second is based on sensory methods recently adapted to ornamental plants. The third, used by the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) for distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) tests, is based on morphological characteristics calibrated on specific reference varieties. The aim of this work was to compare these three methodologies for assessing some flowering and foliage characteristics of rosebushes. Six plants from 10 rose varieties identified by UPOV as reference varieties were cultivated for two years in a greenhouse and outdoors in Angers, France. They were measured and photographed weekly during flowering. Photographs of the plants in full bloom were submitted to a panel of judges for sensory assessment. The results of the three assessment methodologies were compared. Sensory and morphometric measurements were highly correlated and sensory measurements confirmed UPOV scales, whereas some morphometric measures diverged slightly from UPOV scales. We discuss the advantages, disadvantages and complementarity of these three methodologies
Fate of the extended states in a vanishing magnetic field: the role of spins in strongly-interacting 2D electron systems
In non-interacting or weakly-interacting 2D electron systems, the energy of
the extended states increases as the perpendicular magnetic field approaches
zero: the extended states "float up" in energy, giving rise to an insulator.
However, in those 2D systems where metallic conductivity has been recently
observed in zero magnetic field, the energy of the extended states remains
constant or even decreases as B -> 0, thus allowing conduction in the limit of
zero temperature. Here we show that aligning the electrons' spins causes the
extended states to once more "float up" in energy in the vanishing
perpendicular magnetic field, as they do for non- or weakly-interacting
electrons. The difference between extended states that float up (an insulator)
or remain finite (a metal) is thus tied to the existence of the spins
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