2,133 research outputs found
When can we reconstruct the ancestral state? Beyond Brownian motion
Reconstructing the ancestral state of a group of species helps answer many
important questions in evolutionary biology. Therefore, it is crucial to
understand when we can estimate the ancestral state accurately. Previous works
provide a necessary and sufficient condition, called the big bang condition,
for the existence of an accurate reconstruction method under discrete trait
evolution models and the Brownian motion model. In this paper, we extend this
result to a wide range of continuous trait evolution models. In particular, we
consider a general setting where continuous traits evolve along the tree
according to stochastic processes that satisfy some regularity conditions. We
verify these conditions for popular continuous trait evolution models including
Ornstein-Uhlenbeck, reflected Brownian Motion, and Cox-Ingersoll-Ross
Unexpected Behavior of the Local Compressibility Near the B=0 Metal-Insulator Transition
We have measured the local electronic compressibility of a two-dimensional
hole gas as it crosses the B=0 Metal-Insulator Transition. In the metallic
phase, the compressibility follows the mean-field Hartree-Fock (HF) theory and
is found to be spatially homogeneous. In the insulating phase it deviates by
more than an order of magnitude from the HF predictions and is spatially
inhomogeneous. The crossover density between the two types of behavior, agrees
quantitatively with the transport critical density, suggesting that the system
undergoes a thermodynamic change at the transition.Comment: As presented in EP2DS-13, Aug. 1999. (4 pages, 4 figures
Temporal trends and patterns of infective endocarditis in a Chinese population:A territory-wide study in Hong Kong (2002-2019)
BACKGROUND: The characteristics of infective endocarditis (IE) in Asians are poorly understood. Therefore, we aim to describe the epidemiological trends and clinical features of IE in Hong Kong. METHODS: All patients with incident IE from 2002–2019 in a territory-wide clinical database in Hong Kong were identified. We studied the age- and sex-adjusted and one-year mortality of IE between 2002 and 2019 and identified significant contributors to 1-year all-cause death using the attributable fraction. We used propensity score and inverse propensity of treatment weighting to study the association of surgery with mortality. FINDINGS: A total of 5139 patients (60.4 ± 18.2years, 37% women) were included. The overall incidence of IE was 4.9 per 100,000 person-year, which did not change over time (P = 0.17). Patients in 2019 were older and more comorbid than those in 2002. The one-year crude mortality rate was 30% in 2002, which did not change significantly over time (P = 0.10). Between 2002 and 2019, the rate of surgery increased and was associated with a 51% risk reduction in 1-year all-cause mortality (Hazard Ratio 0.49 [0.28–0.87], P = 0.015). Advanced age (attributable fraction 19%) and comorbidities (attributable fraction 15%) were significant contributors to death. INTERPRETATION: The incidence of IE in Hong Kong did not change between 2002 and 2019. Patients with IE in 2019 were older and had more comorbidities than those in 2002. Mortality of IE remains persistently high in Hong Kong. Together, these data can guide public health strategies to improve the outcomes of patients with IE. FUNDING: This work was supported by Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzhen, China [No. SZSM201911020] and HKU-SZH Fund for Shenzhen Key Medical Discipline [No. SZXK2020081]
Charged impurity scattering limited low temperature resistivity of low density silicon inversion layers
We calculate within the Boltzmann equation approach the charged impurity
scattering limited low temperature electronic resistivity of low density
-type inversion layers in Si MOSFET structures. We find a rather sharp
quantum to classical crossover in the transport behavior in the K
temperature range, with the low density, low temperature mobility showing a
strikingly strong non-monotonic temperature dependence, which may qualitatively
explain the recently observed anomalously strong temperature dependent
resistivity in low-density, high-mobility MOSFETs.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, will appear in PRL (12 July, 1999
Satin associated lower cancer risk and related mortaity in patients with heart failure
Aims Patients with heart failure (HF) have an increased risk of incident cancer. Data relating to the association of statin use with cancer risk and cancer-related mortality among patients with HF are sparse. Methods and results Using a previously validated territory-wide clinical information registry, statin use was ascertained among all eligible patients with HF (n = 87 102) from 2003 to 2015. Inverse probability of treatment weighting was used to balance baseline covariates between statin nonusers (n = 50 926) with statin users (n = 36 176). Competing risk regression with Cox proportional-hazard models was performed to estimate the risk of cancer and cancer-related mortality associated with statin use. Of all eligible subjects, the mean age was 76.5 +/- 12.8 years, and 47.8% was male. Over a median follow-up of 4.1 years (interquartile range: 1.6-6.8), 11 052 (12.7%) were diagnosed with cancer. Statin use (vs. none) was associated with a 16% lower risk of cancer incidence [multivariable adjusted subdistribution hazard ratio (SHR) = 0.84; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.80-0.89]. This inverse association with risk of cancer was duration dependent; as compared with short-term statin use (3 months to = 6 years of use. Ten-year cancer-related mortality was 3.8% among statin users and 5.2% among nonusers (absolute risk difference, -1.4 percentage points [95% CI, -1.6% to -1.2%]; adjusted SHR= 0.74; 95% CI, 0.67-0.81). Conclusion Our study suggests that statin use is associated with a significantly lower risk of incident cancer and cancer-related mortality in HF, an association that appears to be duration dependent. [GRAPHICS]
Mass measurements of neutron-deficient Y, Zr, and Nb isotopes and their impact on rp and νp nucleosynthesis processes
© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This manuscript is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For further details please see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Using isochronous mass spectrometry at the experimental storage ring CSRe in Lanzhou, the masses of 82Zr and 84Nb were measured for the first time with an uncertainty of ∼10 keV, and the masses of 79Y, 81Zr, and 83Nb were re-determined with a higher precision. The latter are significantly less bound than their literature values. Our new and accurate masses remove the irregularities of the mass surface in this region of the nuclear chart. Our results do not support the predicted island of pronounced low α separation energies for neutron-deficient Mo and Tc isotopes, making the formation of Zr–Nb cycle in the rp-process unlikely. The new proton separation energy of 83Nb was determined to be 490(400) keV smaller than that in the Atomic Mass Evaluation 2012. This partly removes the overproduction of the p-nucleus 84Sr relative to the neutron-deficient molybdenum isotopes in the previous νp-process simulations.Peer reviewe
Coexistence of Weak Localization and a Metallic Phase in Si/SiGe Quantum Wells
Magnetoresistivity measurements on p-type Si/SiGe quantum wells reveal the
coexistence of a metallic behavior and weak localization. Deep in the metallic
regime, pronounced weak localization reduces the metallic behavior around zero
magnetic field without destroying it. In the insulating phase, a positive
magnetoresistivity emerges close to B=0, possibly related to spin-orbit
interactions.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Measurement of the Negative Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment to 0.7 ppm
The anomalous magnetic moment of the negative muon has been measured to a
precision of 0.7 parts per million (ppm) at the Brookhaven Alternating Gradient
Synchrotron. This result is based on data collected in 2001, and is over an
order of magnitude more precise than the previous measurement of the negative
muon. The result a_mu= 11 659 214(8)(3) \times 10^{-10} (0.7 ppm), where the
first uncertainty is statistical and the second is sytematic, is consistend
with previous measurements of the anomaly for the positive and negative muon.
The average for the muon anomaly a_{mu}(exp) = 11 659 208(6) \times 10^{-10}
(0.5ppm).Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters, revised to
reflect referee comments. Text further revised to reflect additional referee
comments and a corrected Fig. 3 replaces the older versio
Metallic behavior and related phenomena in two dimensions
For about twenty years, it has been the prevailing view that there can be no
metallic state or metal-insulator transition in two dimensions in zero magnetic
field. In the last several years, however, unusual behavior suggestive of such
a transition has been reported in a variety of dilute two-dimensional electron
and hole systems. The physics behind these observations is presently not
understood. We review and discuss the main experimental findings and suggested
theoretical models.Comment: To be published in Rev. Mod. Phy
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