2,418 research outputs found
Responsibility loadings for dental services by general dentists
Extent: 6p.BACKGROUND: Responsibility loadings determine relative value units of dental services that translate services into a common scale of work effort. The aims of this paper were to elicit responsibility loadings for a subset of dental services and to relate responsibility loadings to ratings of importance of the components of responsibility. METHODS: Responsibility loadings and ratings of components of responsibility were collected using mailed questionnaires from a random sample of Australian private general practice dentists in 2007 (response rate = 77%). RESULTS: Median responsibility loadings were 1.25 for an initial oral examination and for a 3+-surface amalgam restoration, 1.50 for a simple extraction and for root canal obturation (single canal), and 1.75 for subgingival curettage (per quadrant). Across the five services coefficients from a multivariate logit model showed that ratings of importance of knowledge (0.34), dexterity (0.24), physical effort (0.28) and mental effort (0.48) were associated with responsibility loadings (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The elicited median responsibility loadings showed agreement with previous estimates indicating convergent validity. Components of responsibility were associated with loadings indicating that components can explain and predict responsibility aspects of dental service provision.David S. Brennan and A. John Spence
Generalised geometry, eleven dimensions and E11
We construct the non-linear realisation of E11 and its first fundamental
representation in eleven dimensions at low levels. The fields depend on the
usual coordinates of space-time as well as two form and five form coordinates.
We derive the terms in the dynamics that contain the three form and six form
fields and show that when we restricted their field dependence to be only on
the usual space-time we recover the correct self-duality relation. Should this
result generalise to the gravity fields then the non-linear realisation is an
extension of the maximal supergravity theory, as previously conjectured. We
also comment on the connections between the different approaches to generalised
geometry.Comment: 17 pages, Trivial typos corrected in version one and a substantial
note added which gives the equation of motion relating the gravity field to
its dua
E11, generalised space-time and equations of motion in four dimensions
We construct the non-linear realisation of the semi-direct product of E11 and
its first fundamental representation at low levels in four dimensions. We
include the fields for gravity, the scalars and the gauge fields as well as the
duals of these fields. The generalised space-time, upon which the fields
depend, consists of the usual coordinates of four dimensional space-time and
Lorentz scalar coordinates which belong to the 56-dimensional representation of
E7. We demand that the equations of motion are first order in derivatives of
the generalised space-time and then show that they are essentially uniquely
determined by the properties of the E11 Kac-Moody algebra and its first
fundamental representation. The two lowest equations correctly describe the
equations of motion of the scalars and the gauge fields once one takes the
fields to depend only on the usual four dimensional space-time
D-brane anomaly inflow revisited
Axial and gravitational anomaly of field theories, when embedded in string
theory, must be accompanied by canceling inflow. We give a self-contained
overview for various world-volume theories, and clarify the role of smeared
magnetic sources in I-brane/D-brane cases. The proper anomaly descent of the
source, as demanded by regularity of RR field strengths H's, turns out to be an
essential ingredient. We show how this allows correct inflow to be generated
for all such theories, including self-dual cases, and also that the mechanism
is now insensitive to the choice between the two related but inequivalent forms
of D-brane Chern-Simons couplings. In particular, SO(6)_R axial anomaly of d=4
maximal SYM is canceled by the inflow onto D3-branes via the standard minimal
coupling to C_4. We also propose how, for the anomaly cancelation, the four
types of Orientifold planes should be coupled to the spacetime curvatures, of
which conflicting claims existed previously.Comment: 41 pages, references updated; version to appear in JHE
Six-dimensional (1,0) effective action of F-theory via M-theory on Calabi-Yau threefolds
The six-dimensional effective action of F-theory compactified on a singular
elliptically fibred Calabi-Yau threefold is determined by using an M-theory
lift. The low-energy data are derived by comparing a circle reduction of a
general six-dimensional (1,0) gauged supergravity theory with the effective
action of M-theory on the resolved Calabi-Yau threefold. The derivation
includes six-dimensional tensor multiplets for which the (anti-) self-duality
constraints are imposed on the level of the five-dimensional action. The vector
sector of the reduced theory is encoded by a non-standard potential due to the
Green-Schwarz term in six dimensions. This Green-Schwarz term also contains
higher curvature couplings which are considered to establish the full map
between anomaly coefficients and geometry. F-/M-theory duality is exploited by
moving to the five-dimensional Coulomb branch after circle reduction and
integrating out massive vector multiplets and matter hypermultiplets. The
associated fermions then generate additional Chern-Simons couplings at
one-loop. Further couplings involving the graviphoton are induced by quantum
corrections due to excited Kaluza-Klein modes. On the M-theory side integrating
out massive fields corresponds to resolving the singularities of the Calabi-Yau
threefold, and yields intriguing relations between six-dimensional anomalies
and classical topology.Comment: 55 pages, v2: typos corrected, discussion of loop corrections
improve
Molecular motors robustly drive active gels to a critically connected state
Living systems often exhibit internal driving: active, molecular processes
drive nonequilibrium phenomena such as metabolism or migration. Active gels
constitute a fascinating class of internally driven matter, where molecular
motors exert localized stresses inside polymer networks. There is evidence that
network crosslinking is required to allow motors to induce macroscopic
contraction. Yet a quantitative understanding of how network connectivity
enables contraction is lacking. Here we show experimentally that myosin motors
contract crosslinked actin polymer networks to clusters with a scale-free size
distribution. This critical behavior occurs over an unexpectedly broad range of
crosslink concentrations. To understand this robustness, we develop a
quantitative model of contractile networks that takes into account network
restructuring: motors reduce connectivity by forcing crosslinks to unbind.
Paradoxically, to coordinate global contractions, motor activity should be low.
Otherwise, motors drive initially well-connected networks to a critical state
where ruptures form across the entire network.Comment: Main text: 21 pages, 5 figures. Supplementary Information: 13 pages,
8 figure
Structural insights into RNA processing by the human RISC-loading complex.
Targeted gene silencing by RNA interference (RNAi) requires loading of a short guide RNA (small interfering RNA (siRNA) or microRNA (miRNA)) onto an Argonaute protein to form the functional center of an RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). In humans, Argonaute2 (AGO2) assembles with the guide RNA-generating enzyme Dicer and the RNA-binding protein TRBP to form a RISC-loading complex (RLC), which is necessary for efficient transfer of nascent siRNAs and miRNAs from Dicer to AGO2. Here, using single-particle EM analysis, we show that human Dicer has an L-shaped structure. The RLC Dicer's N-terminal DExH/D domain, located in a short 'base branch', interacts with TRBP, whereas its C-terminal catalytic domains in the main body are proximal to AGO2. A model generated by docking the available atomic structures of Dicer and Argonaute homologs into the RLC reconstruction suggests a mechanism for siRNA transfer from Dicer to AGO2
BPS dyons and Hesse flow
We revisit BPS solutions to classical N=2 low energy effective gauge
theories. It is shown that the BPS equations can be solved in full generality
by the introduction of a Hesse potential, a symplectic analog of the
holomorphic prepotential. We explain how for non-spherically symmetric,
non-mutually local solutions, the notion of attractor flow generalizes to
gradient flow with respect to the Hesse potential. Furthermore we show that in
general there is a non-trivial magnetic complement to this flow equation that
is sourced by the momentum current in the solution.Comment: 25 pages, references adde
Tissue Clearing and Deep Imaging of the Kidney Using Confocal and Two-Photon Microscopy
Microscopic and macroscopic evaluation of biological tissues in three dimensions is becoming increasingly popular. This trend is coincident with the emergence of numerous tissue clearing strategies, and advancements in confocal and two-photon microscopy, enabling the study of intact organs and systems down to cellular and sub-cellular resolution. In this chapter, we describe a wholemount immunofluorescence technique for labeling structures in renal tissue. This technique combined with solvent-based tissue clearing and confocal imaging, with or without two-photon excitation, provides greater structural information than traditional sectioning and staining alone. Given the addition of paraffin embedding to our method, this hybrid protocol offers a powerful approach to combine confocal or two-photon findings with histological and further immunofluorescent analysis within the same tissue
More on the Nambu-Poisson M5-brane Theory: Scaling limit, background independence and an all order solution to the Seiberg-Witten map
We continue our investigation on the Nambu-Poisson description of M5-brane in
a large constant C-field background (NP M5-brane theory) constructed in
Refs.[1, 2]. In this paper, the low energy limit where the NP M5-brane theory
is applicable is clarified. The background independence of the NP M5-brane
theory is made manifest using the variables in the BLG model of multiple
M2-branes. An all order solution to the Seiberg-Witten map is also constructed.Comment: expanded explanations, minor corrections and typos correcte
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