Pitch and yaw motions of a human being in free fall

Human limb motions for body orientation during free fal

Alteration of the state of motion of a human being in free fall

Orientation and attitude alteration of human body motion state in free fall studied with mathematical model

Equivalent Dosages of Prostaglandin and Oxytocin

Equivalent doses of oxytocin and prostaglandin F2a required to produce a specific amount of uterine activity in vivo in 6 patients at term, were determined. The ratio of prostaglandin to oxytocin is 3,14 : 1 when potency is compared. For any further studies designed to compare these two drugs to have validity, this ratio must be borne in mind.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 767 (1974)

Using a Fermionic Ensemble of Systems to Determine Excited States

We discuss a new numerical method for the determination of excited states of a quantum system using a generalization of the Feynman-Kac formula. The method relies on introducing an ensemble of non-interacting identical systems with a fermionic statistics imposed on the systems as a whole, and on determining the ground state of this fermionic ensemble by taking the large time limit of the Euclidean kernel. Due to the exclusion principle, the ground state of an $n$-system ensemble is realized by the set of individual systems occupying successively the $n$ lowest states, all of which can therefore be sampled in this way. To demonstrate how the method works, we consider a one-dimensional oscillator and a chain of harmonically coupled particles.Comment: 14 pages, Latex + 4 eps figure

Impact of caregiver burden on health-related quality of life and family functioning of carers of children with epilepsy at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, South Africa

Background. The impact of caring for a child with a chronic disease on caregivers and their family functioning contributes to the child’s adaptation to the disease. Objectives. To determine the impact of caregiver burden on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and family functioning of carers of children with epilepsy (CWE), and to determine factors associated with a high impact of caregiver burden. Method. A cross-sectional study was conducted among primary caregivers of CWE attending the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, South Africa. Participants had been involved in childcare for at least 6 months before study enrolment and all gave informed consent. Data regarding sociodemographic and epilepsy-related variables were obtained from questionnaires, including the 36-item family impact module of the Pediatric Quality of Life assessment tool. Scores in the lower quartile were considered indicative of a negative impact on HRQOL and poor family functioning. Results. Participants identified as experiencing a high impact of paediatric epilepsy care reported raw scores ≤31.3 for both caregiver burden and family functioning. The family functioning score correlated strongly with the caregivers’ HRQOL score (p=0.78; p<0.001). Multivariate analysis identified a low level of education among caregivers and a high seizure frequency in patients as independent predictors of caregiver burden associated with a negative impact. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that the burden of caregiving in paediatric epilepsy among our study population impacts negatively on family functioning. The burden of care was associated with a low level of caregiver education and a high seizure frequency in their children

Baudelaire and Electronica: Strange Voices and Ruth White’s 1960s Experimentations

This article examines the under-frequented musical contexts for Baudelaire’s poetry, notably 1960s American experimental electronica (Ruth White, Flowers of Evil, 1969). By focusing on the role of the composer-translator, this article tests the hypothesis that the composer-translator adds further layers of complexity and distancing to the voices of his poetry, in such a way as to create challenging new soundworlds which shatter the already fragile categories of ‘poetry’ and ‘music’ as distinct elements. The alliance between text and sound, it is suggested, becomes increasingly complicated by dislocated voices in a foreign tongue and in an experimental musical genre such that the relationship between poem and music is suffused with heightened levels of strangeness. Moreover, by critiquing the dual (but complicated) role of the composer-translator, it is possible to re-examine accepted tenets of translation theory by pitting the notion of the translator as ‘literary critic’ (Scott: 2000) alongside recent word-music theory that perceives the composer as ‘critical reader’ (Allis: 2005). It is suggested that unusual song settings of Baudelaire (using the composer’s own translation) expand our understanding of Baudelaire’s poetic palette, his use of voice(s), and the cultural reception of his work

Linear and non linear response in the aging regime of the 1D trap model

We investigate the behaviour of the response function in the one dimensional trap model using scaling arguments that we confirm by numerical simulations. We study the average position of the random walk at time tw+t given that a small bias h is applied at time tw. Several scaling regimes are found, depending on the relative values of t, tw and h. Comparison with the diffusive motion in the absence of bias allows us to show that the fluctuation dissipation relation is, in this case, valid even in the aging regime.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 3 references adde

Long-Tailed Trapping Times and Levy Flights in a Self-Organized Critical Granular System

We present a continuous time random walk model for the scale-invariant transport found in a self-organized critical rice pile [Christensen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 107 (1996)]. From our analytical results it is shown that the dynamics of the experiment can be explained in terms of L\'evy flights for the grains and a long-tailed distribution of trapping times. Scaling relations for the exponents of these distributions are obtained. The predicted microscopic behavior is confirmed by means of a cellular automaton model.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, includes 3 PostScript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Transport Properties of Highly Aligned Polymer Light-Emitting-Diodes

We investigate hole transport in polymer light-emitting-diodes in which the emissive layer is made of liquid-crystalline polymer chains aligned perpendicular to the direction of transport. Calculations of the current as a function of time via a random-walk model show excellent qualitative agreement with experiments conducted on electroluminescent polyfluorene demonstrating non-dispersive hole transport. The current exhibits a constant plateau as the charge carriers move with a time-independent drift velocity, followed by a long tail when they reach the collecting electrode. Variation of the parameters within the model allows the investigation of the transition from non-dispersive to dispersive transport in highly aligned polymers. It turns out that large inter-chain hopping is required for non-dispersive hole transport and that structural disorder obstructs the propagation of holes through the polymer film.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure