4,468 research outputs found
Ramsey interferometry with oppositely detuned fields
We report a narrowing of the interference pattern obtained in an atomic
Ramsey interferometer if the two separated fields have different frequency and
their phase difference is controlled. The width of the Ramsey fringes depends
inversely on the free flight time of ground state atoms before entering the
first field region in addition to the time between the fields. The effect is
stable also for atomic wavepackets with initial position and momentum
distributions and for realistic mode functions.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Risk of miscarriage following amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling: systematic review of literature and updated meta-analysis
Objectives: To estimate the procedure-related risks of miscarriage after amniocentesis and trans-abdominal chorionic villus sampling (CVS) based on a systematic review of the literature and an updated meta-analysis.
Methods: A search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Library was carried out to identify studies reporting complications following CVS or amniocentesis. The inclusion criteria for the systematic review were studies reporting results from large controlled studies and those reporting data for pregnancy loss prior to 24 weeks’ gestation. Study authors were contacted when required to identify additional necessary data. Data for cases that had invasive procedure and controls groups were inputted in contingency tables and risk of miscarriage was estimated for each study. Summary statistics based on a fixed and random effects model were calculated after taking into account the weighting for each study included in the systematic review. Procedure-related risk of miscarriage was estimated as a weighted risk difference from the summary statistics for cases and controls. A subgroup analyses according to the similarity risk levels in the invasive testing and control groups was performed. Heterogeneity was assessed using Cochrane’s Q and I2 statistic. Egger Bias was estimated to assess reporting bias in published studies. Summary statistics for procedure-related risk of miscarriage were graphically represented in Forest plots.
Results: The electronic search from the databases yielded 2,943 potential citations, from which, we selected 20 controlled studies for inclusion in the systematic review to estimate the procedure-related risk of miscarriage from invasive procedures. There were a total of 580 miscarriages from 63,273 amniocentesis procedures with a weighted risk of pregnancy loss of 0.91% (95%CI: 0.73 to 1.09). In the control group, there were 1,726 miscarriages in 330,469 pregnancies with a loss rate of 0.58% (95CI%: 0.47 to 0.70). The weighted procedure-related risk of miscarriage was 0.30% (95%CI: 0.11 to 0.49, I2=70.1%). There were a total of 163 miscarriages from 13,011 CVS procedures with a risk of pregnancy loss of 1.39% (95%CI: 0.76 to 2.02). In the control group, there were 1,946 miscarriages in 232,680 pregnancies with a loss rate of 1.23% (95CI%: 0.86 to 1.59). The weighted procedure-related risk of miscarriage following CVS was 0.20% (95%CI: -0.12 to 0.52, I2=51.9%). However, when only studies with similar risk profiles between the intervention and control groups were considered, the procedure related risk for amniocentesis became 0.03% (95%CI -0.08 to 0.14, I2=0%) and for CVS -0.38 (95% CI -1.12 to 0.36, I2=0%).
Conclusion: The procedure-related risks of miscarriage following amniocentesis and CVS are lower than currently quoted to women. The risk appears to be negligible when these interventions are compared to control groups of the same risk profile
Masses of the components of SB2 binaries observed with Gaia. II. Masses derived from PIONIER interferometric observations for Gaia validation
In anticipation of the Gaia astrometric mission, a sample of spectroscopic
binaries is being observed since 2010 with the Sophie spectrograph at the
Haute--Provence Observatory. Our aim is to derive the orbital elements of
double-lined spectroscopic binaries (SB2s) with an accuracy sufficient to
finally obtain the masses of the components with relative errors as small as 1
% when combined with Gaia astrometric measurements. In order to validate the
masses derived from Gaia, interferometric observations are obtained for three
SB2s in our sample with F-K components: HIP 14157, HIP 20601 and HIP 117186.
The masses of the six stellar components are derived. Due to its edge-on
orientation, HIP 14157 is probably an eclipsing binary. We note that almost all
the derived masses are a few percent larger than the expectations from the
standard spectral-type-mass calibration and mass-luminosity relation. Our
calculation also leads to accurate parallaxes for the three binaries, and the
Hipparcos parallaxes are confirmed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, accepted by MNRA
Exclusion Statistics in a two-dimensional trapped Bose gas
We briefly explain the notion of exclusion statistics and in particular
discuss the concept of an ideal exclusion statistics gas. We then review a
recent work where it is demonstrated that a {\em two-dimensional} Bose gas with
repulsive delta function interactions obeys ideal exclusion statistics, with a
fractional parameter related to the interaction strength.Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX. Proceedings of the Salerno workshop "Theory of
Quantum Gases and Quantum Coherence", to appear in a special issue of J.Phys.
B, Dec. 200
Characterizing the spin state of an atomic ensemble using the magneto-optical resonance method
Quantum information protocols utilizing atomic ensembles require preparation
of a coherent spin state (CSS) of the ensemble as an important starting point.
We investigate the magneto-optical resonance method for characterizing a spin
state of cesium atoms in a paraffin coated vapor cell. Atoms in a constant
magnetic field are subject to an off-resonant laser beam and an RF magnetic
field. The spectrum of the Zeeman sub-levels, in particular the weak quadratic
Zeeman effect, enables us to measure the spin orientation, the number of atoms,
and the transverse spin coherence time. Notably the use of 894nm pumping light
on the D1-line, ensuring the state F=4, m_F=4 to be a dark state, helps us to
achieve spin orientation of better than 98%. Hence we can establish a CSS with
high accuracy which is critical for the analysis of the entangled states of
atoms.Comment: 12 pages ReVTeX, 6 figures, in v2 added ref. and corrected typo
The impact of health on professionally active people's incomes in Poland. Microeconometric analysis
The outcome of the research confirms the occurrence of positive interaction between professionally active people's incomes and the self-assessed state of health. People declaring a bad state of health have incomes by 20% on average lower than people who enjoy good health (assuming that the remaining characteristics of the surveyed person are the same). In case of men, the impact of health state on incomes is slightly greater than in case of women.Wyniki badań potwierdzają istnienie pozytywnej zależności dochodów osób aktywnych zawodowo od stanu zdrowia mierzonego jego samooceną. Osoby deklarujące zły stan zdrowia osiągają dochody przeciętnie o 20% niższe niż osoby, które cieszą się dobrym stanem zdrowia (przy założeniu, że pozostałe charakterystyki badanej osoby są takie same). W przypadku mężczyzn zależność dochodów od stanu zdrowia jest nieznacznie silniejsza niż w przypadku kobiet
Impact of Oportunidades on skilled attendance at delivery in rural areas.
Oportunidades (formerly PROGRESA) is a conditional cash transfer program ran by the Mexican federal government designed to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. Among other activities, it provides free delivery attendance for women enrolled in the program. Skilled attendance at delivery has been identified as an effective strategy to reduce maternal mortality, an important health problem in Mexico. In this paper we assess the impact of Oportunidades on skilled attendance at delivery taking advantage of the experimental design implemented for the evaluation of this program in rural areas and using a variety of analytical techniques. The main results of the study indicate that Oportunidades had, at best, only a small effect on skilled attendance at delivery in treatment communities. The program had larger effects on those women who had one birth just prior to the experimental treatment and another birth subsequent to the experimental treatment. These results should lead to a review about the strategies used by Oportunidades to increase skilled attendance at delivery
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