373 research outputs found
Crystal structure and chemistry of barium-graphite intercalation compounds
Graphite can accommodate various chemical species between graphene layers to form graphite intercalation compounds (GIC) [1]. Alkali metals can easily lead to bulk stage-1 intercalation compounds by vapor transport but for more electronegative elements, such as alkaline-earth metals or lanthanides, only a superficial intercalation is obtained and other synthesis methods have to be envisaged. Molten alloys, formed between an alkali metal and the targeted metal, have demonstrated their efficiency to prepare bulk and homogeneous GIC from these latter elements, for example the superconducting CaC6 phase [2], but some elements remain difficult to intercalate by this method. More recently, our team developed a method based on the work of Hagiwara et al., consisting in using a LiCl-KCl eutectic molten medium [3], which for example allowed to prepare for the first time a bulk SrC6 compound [4]. This work is focused on the intercalation of barium into graphite from the LiCl-KCl molten salts method. A bulk stage-1 BaC6 compound has been prepared and X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed its crystal structure [5]. Moreover, by varying the experimental conditions, two completely novel phases, denoted α and β, have been isolated. From ion beam analyses, Li0,2K0,6Ba0,35C6 and Li0,2K0,75Ba0,6C6 chemical formulae have been determined for α and β phases, respectively, showing that lithium and potassium are intercalated together with barium. X- ray diffraction led to the determination of the stacking sequence of each compound, and their planar unit cells. Lastly, a reaction mechanism is proposed, which explains the formation of the different phases observed in this study
The role of student–teacher relationships in the association between negative parenting practices and emotion dynamics – Combining longitudinal and ecological momentary assessment data
Emotion dysregulation is increasingly implicated as a transdiagnostic risk factor in the etiology of mental health problems. This project aimed to explore the links between emotion regulation, negative parenting and student-teacher relationships using longitudinal and ecologically valid data. A sample of n = 209 young people enrolled in the 'Decades-to-Minutes' (D2M) study, based in Zurich, Switzerland, provided data from the ages of 7-20 via parent- and self-report questionnaires and ecological momentary assessment. Data were analyzed using Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling (DSEM). Worse student-teacher relationships predicted increased negative affectivity and emotional lability. Negative parenting practices predicted emotional lability only via their impact on student-teacher relationships. The findings point to worse student-teacher relationships as risk factors in the socioemotional development of children and young people
Examining maternal cardiometabolic markers in pregnancy on child emotional and behaviour trajectories:Using growth curve models on a cohort study
Background
Poor maternal cardiometabolic health in pregnancy is associated with negative effects on child health outcomes, but there is limited literature on child and adolescent socio-emotional outcomes. The study aims to investigate associations between maternal cardiometabolic markers during pregnancy with child and adolescence socio-emotional trajectories.
Methods
Growth curve models were run to examine how maternal cardiometabolic markers in pregnancy affected child socio-emotional trajectories from age 4 to 16. Models were adjusted for all pregnancy trimesters, maternal, child, and socioeconomic covariates. This study used the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (United Kingdom) cohort. Participants consisted of mother-child pairs (n=15,133). Maternal predictors of fasting glucose, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), and body mass index (BMI) were taken from each pregnancy trimester (T1, T2, T3). Child outcomes included emotional problems, conduct problems, and hyperactivity problems from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).
Results
Fully adjusted models showed significant associations between elevated T1 fasting glucose and increased conduct problems, higher T1 BMI and increased hyperactivity problems, lowered T1 HDL and decreased hyperactivity problems, and elevated T2 triglycerides and increased hyperactivity problems.
Conclusions
Maternal cardiometabolic risk is associated with conduct and hyperactivity outcomes from age 4 to 16. This study suggests that maternal markers of fasting glucose, LDL, HDL, and triglycerides during pregnancy could be added as supplements for clinical measures of risk when predicting child and adolescence’s socio-emotional trajectories.peerReviewe
Computing the vertices of tropical polyhedra using directed hypergraphs
We establish a characterization of the vertices of a tropical polyhedron
defined as the intersection of finitely many half-spaces. We show that a point
is a vertex if, and only if, a directed hypergraph, constructed from the
subdifferentials of the active constraints at this point, admits a unique
strongly connected component that is maximal with respect to the reachability
relation (all the other strongly connected components have access to it). This
property can be checked in almost linear-time. This allows us to develop a
tropical analogue of the classical double description method, which computes a
minimal internal representation (in terms of vertices) of a polyhedron defined
externally (by half-spaces or hyperplanes). We provide theoretical worst case
complexity bounds and report extensive experimental tests performed using the
library TPLib, showing that this method outperforms the other existing
approaches.Comment: 29 pages (A4), 10 figures, 1 table; v2: Improved algorithm in section
5 (using directed hypergraphs), detailed appendix; v3: major revision of the
article (adding tropical hyperplanes, alternative method by arrangements,
etc); v4: minor revisio
The solution of the quantum T-system for arbitrary boundary
We solve the quantum version of the -system by use of quantum
networks. The system is interpreted as a particular set of mutations of a
suitable (infinite-rank) quantum cluster algebra, and Laurent positivity
follows from our solution. As an application we re-derive the corresponding
quantum network solution to the quantum -system and generalize it to
the fully non-commutative case. We give the relation between the quantum
-system and the quantum lattice Liouville equation, which is the quantized
-system.Comment: 24 pages, 18 figure
Integrable structure of box-ball systems: crystal, Bethe ansatz, ultradiscretization and tropical geometry
The box-ball system is an integrable cellular automaton on one dimensional
lattice. It arises from either quantum or classical integrable systems by the
procedures called crystallization and ultradiscretization, respectively. The
double origin of the integrability has endowed the box-ball system with a
variety of aspects related to Yang-Baxter integrable models in statistical
mechanics, crystal base theory in quantum groups, combinatorial Bethe ansatz,
geometric crystals, classical theory of solitons, tau functions, inverse
scattering method, action-angle variables and invariant tori in completely
integrable systems, spectral curves, tropical geometry and so forth. In this
review article, we demonstrate these integrable structures of the box-ball
system and its generalizations based on the developments in the last two
decades.Comment: 73 page
Variation of health-related quality of life assessed by caregivers and patients affected by severe childhood infections.
BACKGROUND: The agreement between self-reported and proxy measures of health status in ill children is not well established. This study aimed to quantify the variation in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) derived from young patients and their carers using different instruments. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional survey was conducted between August 2010 and March 2011. Children with meningitis, bacteremia, pneumonia, acute otitis media, hearing loss, chronic lung disease, epilepsy, mild mental retardation, severe mental retardation, and mental retardation combined with epilepsy, aged between five to 14 years in seven tertiary hospitals were selected for participation in this study. The Health Utilities Index Mark 2 (HUI2), and Mark 3 (HUI3), and the EuroQoL Descriptive System (EQ-5D) and Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS) were applied to both paediatric patients (self-assessment) and caregivers (proxy-assessment). RESULTS: The EQ-5D scores were lowest for acute conditions such as meningitis, bacteremia, and pneumonia, whereas the HUI3 scores were lowest for most chronic conditions such as hearing loss and severe mental retardation. Comparing patient and proxy scores (n = 74), the EQ-5D exhibited high correlation (r = 0.77) while in the HUI2 and HUI3 patient and caregiver scores were moderately correlated (r = 0.58 and 0.67 respectively). The mean difference between self and proxy-assessment using the HUI2, HUI3, EQ-5D and EQ-VAS scores were 0.03, 0.05, -0.03 and -0.02, respectively. In hearing-impaired and chronic lung patients the self-rated HRQOL differed significantly from their caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: The use of caregivers as proxies for measuring HRQOL in young patients affected by pneumococcal infection and its sequelae should be employed with caution. Given the high correlation between instruments, each of the HRQOL instruments appears acceptable apart from the EQ-VAS which exhibited low correlation with the others
Effects of Therapy in Oropharyngeal Dysphagia by Speech and Language Therapists: A Systematic Review
Medical and paramedical treatments should be evaluated according to current standards of evidence-based medicine. Evaluation of therapy in oropharyngeal dysphagia fits into this growing interest. A systematic review is given of the literature on the effects of therapy in oropharyngeal dysphagia carried out by speech therapists. Thus, the review excludes reports of surgical or pharmacological treatments. The literature search was performed using the electronic databases PubMed and Embase. All available inclusion dates up to November 2008 were used. The search was limited to English, German, French, Spanish, and Dutch publications. MESH terms were supplemented by using free-text words (for the period after January 2005). Fifty-nine studies were included. In general, statistically significant positive therapy effects were found. However, the number of papers was rather small. Moreover, diverse methodological problems were found in many of these studies. For most studies, the conclusions could not be generalized; comparison was hindered by the range of diagnoses, types of therapies, and evaluation techniques. Many questions remain about the effects of therapy in oropharyngeal dysphagia as performed by speech and language therapists. Although some positive significant outcome studies have been published, further research based on randomized controlled trials is needed
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Randomised control trial of the effectiveness of an integrated psychosocial health promotion intervention aimed at improving health and reducing substance use in established psychosis (IMPaCT)
© 2017 The Author(s). Background: People with psychosis have a reduced life expectancy of 10-20years, largely due to cardiovascular disease. This trial aimed to determine the effectiveness of a modular health promotion intervention (IMPaCT Therapy) in improving health and reducing cardiovascular risk in psychosis. Methods: A multicentre, two arm, parallel cluster RCT was conducted across five UK mental health NHS trusts. Community care coordinators (CC) were randomly assigned to training and supervision in delivering IMPaCT Therapy or treatment as usual (TAU) to current patients with psychosis (cluster). The primary outcome was the physical and mental health subscales of the Short form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Results: Of 104 care coordinators recruited, 52 (with 213 patients) were randomised to deliver IMPaCT therapy and 52 (with 193 patients) randomised to TAU. Of 406 patients, 318 (78%) and 301 (74%) attended 12- and 15-month follow-up respectively. IMPaCT therapy showed no significant effect on the physical or mental health component SF-36 scores versus TAU at 12 or 15months. No effect was observed for cardiovascular risk indicators, except for HDL cholesterol, which improved more with IMPACT therapy than TAU (Treatment effect (95% CI); 0.085 (0.007 to 0.16); p= 0.034). The 22% of patients who received > 180min of IMPACT Therapy in addition to usual care achieved a greater reduction in waist circumference than did controls, which was clinically significant. Conclusion: Training and supervising community care coordinators to use IMPaCT therapy in patients with psychosis is insufficient to significantly improve physical or mental health quality of life. The search for effective, pragmatic interventions deliverable in health care services continues. Trial registration: The trial was retrospectively registered with ISRCTN registry on 23/4/2010 at ISRCTN58667926 ; recruitment started on 01/03/2010 with first randomization on 09.08.2010 ISRCTN58667926
Exceptionally Preserved Cambrian Trilobite Digestive System Revealed in 3D by Synchrotron-Radiation X-Ray Tomographic Microscopy
The Cambrian ‘Orsten’ fauna comprises exceptionally preserved and phosphatised microscopic arthropods. The external morphology of these fossils is well known, but their internal soft-tissue anatomy has remained virtually unknown. Here, we report the first non-biomineralised tissues from a juvenile polymerid trilobite, represented by digestive structures, glands, and connective strands harboured in a hypostome from the Swedish ‘Orsten’ fauna. Synchrotron-radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy enabled three-dimensional internal recordings at sub-micrometre resolution. The specimen provides the first unambiguous evidence for a J-shaped anterior gut and the presence of a crop with a constricted alimentary tract in the Trilobita. Moreover, the gut is Y-shaped in cross section, probably due to a collapsed lumen of that shape, another feature which has not previously been observed in trilobites. The combination of anatomical features suggests that the trilobite hypostome is functionally analogous to the labrum of euarthropods and that it was a sophisticated element closely integrated with the digestive system. This study also briefly addresses the preservational bias of the ‘Orsten’ fauna, particularly the near-absence of polymerid trilobites, and the taphonomy of the soft-tissue-harbouring hypostome
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