Growth Patterns in the First Three Years of Life in Children with Classical Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Diagnosed by Newborn Screening and Treated with Low Doses of Hydrocortisone

Background: Linear growth is the best clinical parameter for monitoring metabolic control in classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). Objective: To analyze growth patterns in children with CAH diagnosed by newborn screening and treated with relatively low doses of hydrocortisone during the first year of life. Patients and Methods: 51 patients (27 females) were diagnosed with classical CAH by newborn screening. All patients were treated with relatively low doses of hydrocortisone (9-15 mg/m(2) body surface area). 47 patients were additionally treated with fludrocortisone. Results: At birth, height SDS (H-SDS) was 1.1 +/- 1 in girls and 0.9 +/- 1.5 in boys. After 3 months, H-SDS decreased to 0.4 +/- 0.9 in girls and to 0.1 +/- 1.3 in boys. Over the 3-year period, H-SDS further decreased to -0.4 +/- 1.8 in girls and to -0.8 +/- 1 in boys and approached the genetic height potential (target H-SDS of girls -0.5 +/- 0.3 and target H-SDS of boys -0.9 +/- 0.7). During the first 9 months of age, growth velocity was slightly decreased in girls (18.2 +/- 1.9 cm) and boys (17.3 +/- 1.6 cm) when compared to a healthy reference population (girls 19.0 +/- 3.9 cm and boys 18.7 +/- 4.7 cm). At the age of 3 years, bone age was appropriate for chronological age in both girls (2.7 +/- 0.5 years) and boys (2.9 +/- 0.5 years). Conclusion: Birth length is above average in children with classical CAH, which might be the result of untreated hyperandrogenism in utero. With relatively low doses of hydrocortisone treatment, growth velocity decreases slightly during the first 9 months and H-SDS then approaches the genetic height potential. Copyright (C) 2010 S. Karger AG, Base

Numerical Relativity Injection Infrastructure

This document describes the new Numerical Relativity (NR) injection infrastructure in the LIGO Algorithms Library (LAL), which henceforth allows for the usage of NR waveforms as a discrete waveform approximant in LAL. With this new interface, NR waveforms provided in the described format can directly be used as simulated GW signals ("injections") for data analyses, which include parameter estimation, searches, hardware injections etc. As opposed to the previous infrastructure, this new interface natively handles sub-dominant modes and waveforms from numerical simulations of precessing binary black holes, making them directly accessible to LIGO analyses. To correctly handle precessing simulations, the new NR injection infrastructure internally transforms the NR data into the coordinate frame convention used in LAL.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, technical repor

Spectral Properties of Magnetic Excitations in Cuprate Two-Leg Ladder Systems

This article summarizes and extends the recent developments in the microscopic modeling of the magnetic excitations in cuprate two-leg ladder systems. The microscopic Hamiltonian comprises dominant Heisenberg exchange terms plus an additional four-spin interaction which is about five times smaller. We give an overview over the relevant energies like the one-triplon dispersion, the energies of two-triplon bound states and the positions of multi-triplon continua and over relevant spectral properties like spectral weights and spectral densities in the parameter regime appropriate for cuprate systems. It is concluded that an almost complete understanding of the magnetic excitations in undoped cuprate ladders has been obtained as measured by inelastic neutron scattering, inelastic light (Raman) scattering and infrared absorption.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures, review for Mod. Phys. Lett.

On the Electronic Spectroscopy of Closed Shell Cations Derived From Resonance Stabilized Radicals: Insights From Theory and Franck-Condon Analysis

Context. Recent attention has been directed on closed-shell aromatic cations as potential carriers of the diffuse interstellar bands. The spectra of mass-selected, matrix-isolated benzylium, and tropylium cations were recently reported. The visible spectrum of benzylium exhibits a large Franck-Condon (FC) envelope, inconsistent with diffuse interstellar band carriers. Aims. We perform a computational analysis of the experimentally studied benzylium spectrum before extending the methods to a range of larger, closed-shell aromatic cations to determine the potential for this class of systems as diffuse interstellar band carriers. Methods. Density functional theory (DFT), time-dependant ((TD)DFT), and multi-configurational self-consistent field second-order perturbation theory (MRPT2) methods in concert with multidimensional FC analysis is used to model the benzylium spectrum. These methods are extended to larger closed-shell aromatic hydrocarbon cations derived from resonance-stabilized radicals, which are predicted to show strong S0 → Sn transitions in the visible region. The ionization energies of a range of these systems are also calculated by DFT. Results. The simulated benzylium spectrum was found to yield excellent agreement with the experimental spectrum showing an extended progression in a low frequency (510 cm-1) ring distortion mode. The FC progression was found to be significantly quenched in the larger species: 1-indanylium, 1-naphthylmethylium, and fluorenium. Excitation and ionization energies of the closed-shell cations were found to be consistent with diffuse interstellar band carriers, with the former lying in the visible range and the latter straddling the Lyman limit in the 13−14 eV range. Conclusions. Large closed-shell polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon cations remain viable candidate carriers of the diffuse interstellar bands

Probing fractal magnetic domains on multiple length scales in Nd2Fe14B

Using small-angle neutron scattering, we demonstrate that the complex magnetic domain patterns at the surface of Nd2Fe14B, revealed by quantitative Kerr and Faraday microscopy, propagate into the bulk and exhibit structural features with dimensions down to 6 nm, the domain wall thickness. The observed fractal nature of the domain structures provides an explanation for the anomalous increase in the bulk magnetization of Nd2Fe14B below the spin-reorientation transition. These measurements open up a rich playground for studies of fractal structures in highly anisotropic magnetic systems.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. (4 pages, 4 figures

Detection of electrical spin injection by light-emitting diodes in top- and side-emission configuration

Detection of the degree of circular polarization of the electroluminescence of a light-emitting diode fitted with a spin injecting contact (a spin-LED) allows for a direct determination of the spin polarization of the injected carriers. Here, we compare the detection efficiency of (Al,Ga)As spin-LEDs fitted with a (Zn,Be,Mn)Se spin injector in top- and side-emission configuration. In contrast with top emission, we cannot detect the electrical spin injection in side emission from analysing the degree of circular polarization of the electroluminescence. To reduce resonant optical pumping of quantum-well excitons in the side emission, we have analysed structures with mesa sizes as small as 1 micron.Comment: 15 pages with 3 figure

Recent developments in classical density functional theory: Internal energy functional and diagrammatic structure of fundamental measure theory

An overview of several recent developments in density functional theory for classical inhomogeneous liquids is given. We show how Levy's constrained search method can be used to derive the variational principle that underlies density functional theory. An advantage of the method is that the Helmholtz free energy as a functional of a trial one-body density is given as an explicit expression, without reference to an external potential as is the case in the standard Mermin-Evans proof by reductio ad absurdum. We show how to generalize the approach in order to express the internal energy as a functional of the one-body density distribution and of the local entropy distribution. Here the local chemical potential and the bulk temperature play the role of Lagrange multipliers in the Euler-Lagrange equations for minimiziation of the functional. As an explicit approximation for the free-energy functional for hard sphere mixtures, the diagrammatic structure of Rosenfeld's fundamental measure density unctional is laid out. Recent extensions, based on the Kierlik-Rosinberg scalar weight functions, to binary and ternary non-additive hard sphere mixtures are described.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure