6,197 research outputs found
Finite-Difference and Pseudospectral Time-Domain Methods Applied to Backwards-Wave Metamaterials
Backwards-wave (BW) materials that have simultaneously negative real parts of
their electric permittivity and magnetic permeability can support waves where
phase and power propagation occur in opposite directions. These materials were
predicted to have many unusual electromagnetic properties, among them
amplification of the near-field of a point source, which could lead to the
perfect reconstruction of the source field in an image [J. Pendry, Phys. Rev.
Lett. \textbf{85}, 3966 (2000)]. Often systems containing BW materials are
simulated using the finite-difference time-domain technique. We show that this
technique suffers from a numerical artifact due to its staggered grid that
makes its use in simulations involving BW materials problematic. The
pseudospectral time-domain technique, on the other hand, uses a collocated grid
and is free of this artifact.
It is also shown that when modeling the dispersive BW material, the linear
frequency approximation method introduces error that affects the frequency of
vanishing reflection, while the auxiliary differential equation, the Z
transform, and the bilinear frequency approximation method produce vanishing
reflection at the correct frequency. The case of vanishing reflection is of
particular interest for field reconstruction in imaging applications.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted by IEEE Transactions on Antennas and
Propagatio
Galaxy Clustering Around Nearby Luminous Quasars
We examine the clustering of galaxies around a sample of 20 luminous low
redshift (z<0.30) quasars observed with the Wide Field Camera-2 on the Hubble
Space Telescope. The HST resolution makes possible galaxy identification
brighter than V=23.5 and as close as 2'' to the quasar. We find a significant
enhancement of galaxies within a projected separation of < 100 kpc/h of the
quasars. If we model the qso/galaxy correlation function as a power law with a
slope given by the galaxy/galaxy correlation function, we find that the ratio
of the qso/galaxy to galaxy/galaxy correlation functions is . The
galaxy counts within r<15 kpc/h of the quasars are too high for the density
profile to have an appreciable core radius ( > 100 kpc). Our results reinforce
the idea that low redshift quasars are located preferentially in groups of
10-20 galaxies rather than in rich clusters. We see no significant difference
in the clustering amplitudes derived from radio-loud and radio-quiet
subsamples.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures (included), 2 tables, Apj in pres
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Podocnemis sextuberculata
Number of pages: 24Geological SciencesIntegrative Biolog
Genetic Attributions: Sign of Intolerance or Acceptance?
Many scholars argue that people who attribute human characteristics to genetic causes also tend to hold politically and socially problematic attitudes. More specifically, public acceptance of genetic influences is believed to be associated with intolerance, prejudice, and the legitimation of social inequities and laissez-faire policies. We test these expectations with original data from two nationally representative samples that allow us to identify the American public’s attributional patterns across 18 diverse traits. Key findings are (1) genetic attributions are actually more likely to be made by liberals, not conservatives; (2) genetic attributions are associated with higher, not lower, levels of tolerance of vulnerable individuals; and (3) genetic attributions do not correlate with unseemly racial attitudes
Spectral Decomposition of Broad-Line AGNs and Host Galaxies
Using an eigenspectrum decomposition technique, we separate the host galaxy
from the broad line active galactic nucleus (AGN) in a set of 4666 spectra from
the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), from redshifts near zero up to about 0.75.
The decomposition technique uses separate sets of galaxy and quasar
eigenspectra to efficiently and reliably separate the AGN and host
spectroscopic components. The technique accurately reproduces the host galaxy
spectrum, its contributing fraction, and its classification. We show how the
accuracy of the decomposition depends upon S/N, host galaxy fraction, and the
galaxy class. Based on the eigencoefficients, the sample of SDSS broad-line AGN
host galaxies spans a wide range of spectral types, but the distribution
differs significantly from inactive galaxies. In particular, post-starburst
activity appears to be much more common among AGN host galaxies. The
luminosities of the hosts are much higher than expected for normal early-type
galaxies, and their colors become increasingly bluer than early-type galaxies
with increasing host luminosity. Most of the AGNs with detected hosts are
emitting at between 1% and 10% of their estimated Eddington luminosities, but
the sensitivity of the technique usually does not extend to the Eddington
limit. There are mild correlations among the AGN and host galaxy
eigencoefficients, possibly indicating a link between recent star formation and
the onset of AGN activity. The catalog of spectral reconstruction parameters is
available as an electronic table.Comment: 18 pages; accepted for publication in A
Susceptibility Provision Enhances Effective De-escalation (SPEED): utilizing rapid phenotypic susceptibility testing in Gram-negative bloodstream infections and its potential clinical impact
Abstract
Objectives
We evaluated the performance and time to result for pathogen identification (ID) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of the Accelerate Pheno™ system (AXDX) compared with standard of care (SOC) methods. We also assessed the hypothetical improvement in antibiotic utilization if AXDX had been implemented.
Methods
Clinical samples from patients with monomicrobial Gram-negative bacteraemia were tested and compared between AXDX and the SOC methods of the VERIGENE® and Bruker MALDI Biotyper® systems for ID and the VITEK® 2 system for AST. Additionally, charts were reviewed to calculate theoretical times to antibiotic de-escalation, escalation and active and optimal therapy
Results
ID mean time was 21 h for MALDI-TOF MS, 4.4 h for VERIGENE® and 3.7 h for AXDX. AST mean time was 35 h for VITEK® 2 and 9.0 h for AXDX. For ID, positive percentage agreement was 95.9% and negative percentage agreement was 99.9%. For AST, essential agreement was 94.5% and categorical agreement was 93.5%. If AXDX results had been available to inform patient care, 25% of patients could have been put on active therapy sooner, while 78% of patients who had therapy optimized during hospitalization could have had therapy optimized sooner. Additionally, AXDX could have reduced time to de-escalation (16 versus 31 h) and escalation (19 versus 31 h) compared with SOC.
Conclusions
By providing fast and reliable ID and AST results, AXDX has the potential to improve antimicrobial utilization and enhance antimicrobial stewardship
National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank: A standard based biospecimen and clinical data resource to enhance translational research
Background: Advances in translational research have led to the need for well characterized biospecimens for research. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank is an initiative which collects annotated datasets relevant to human mesothelioma to develop an enterprising biospecimen resource to fulfill researchers' need. Methods: The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank architecture is based on three major components: (a) common data elements (based on College of American Pathologists protocol and National North American Association of Central Cancer Registries standards), (b) clinical and epidemiologic data annotation, and (c) data query tools. These tools work interoperably to standardize the entire process of annotation. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank tool is based upon the caTISSUE Clinical Annotation Engine, developed by the University of Pittsburgh in cooperation with the Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid™ (caBIG™, see http://cabig.nci.nih.gov). This application provides a web-based system for annotating, importing and searching mesothelioma cases. The underlying information model is constructed utilizing Unified Modeling Language class diagrams, hierarchical relationships and Enterprise Architect software. Result: The database provides researchers real-time access to richly annotated specimens and integral information related to mesothelioma. The data disclosed is tightly regulated depending upon users' authorization and depending on the participating institute that is amenable to the local Institutional Review Board and regulation committee reviews. Conclusion: The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank currently has over 600 annotated cases available for researchers that include paraffin embedded tissues, tissue microarrays, serum and genomic DNA. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank is a virtual biospecimen registry with robust translational biomedical informatics support to facilitate basic science, clinical, and translational research. Furthermore, it protects patient privacy by disclosing only de-identified datasets to assure that biospecimens can be made accessible to researchers. © 2008 Amin et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd
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