What are the interactions in quantum glasses?

The form of the low-temperature interactions between defects in neutral glasses is reconsidered. We analyse the case where the defects can be modelled either as simple 2-level tunneling systems, or tunneling rotational impurities. The coupling to strain fields is determined up to 2nd order in the displacement field. It is shown that the linear coupling generates not only the usual $1/r^3$ Ising-like interaction between the rotational tunneling defect modes, which cause them to freeze around a temperature $T_G$, but also a random field term. At lower temperatures the inversion symmetric tunneling modes are still active - however the coupling of these to the frozen rotational modes, now via the 2nd-order coupling to phonons, generates another random field term acting on the inversion symmetric modes (as well as shorter-range $1/r^5$ interactions between them). Detailed expressions for all these couplings are given.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures. Minor modifications, published versio

Regional Sign Language Varieties in Contact: Investigating Patterns of Accommodation

Short-term linguistic accommodation has been observed in a number of spoken language studies. The first of its kind in sign language research, this study aims to investigate the effects of regional varieties in contact and lexical accommodation in British Sign Language (BSL). Twenty-five participants were recruited from Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester, and Newcastle and paired with the same conversational partner. Participants completed a “spot-the-difference” task which elicited a considerable amount of contrasting regionally specific sign data in the participant-confederate dyads. Accommodation was observed during the task with younger signers accommodating more than older signers. The results are interpreted with reference to the relationship between language contact and lexical accommodation in BSL, and address how further studies could help us better understand how contact and accommodation contribute to language change more generally

Functional and radiological outcomes of periacetabular osteotomy for hip dysplasia in patients under fifty years using a minimally invasive approach—a single surgeon series with a minimum follow up of two years

\ua9 The Author(s) 2024. Purpose: We conducted a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data to evaluate (1) the extent of surgical correction following minimally invasive periacetabular osteotomy, (2) improvements in functional outcomes and any potential predictors for favourable outcome, and (3) complications after minimally invasive periacetabular osteotomy. Methods: A total of 352 minimally invasive periacetabular osteotomy procedures were performed on 312 hip dysplasia patients between 2013 and 2020. Radiological parameters such as lateral centre edge angle, acetabular index, and T\uf6nnis grade of arthritis were calculated. Patients also completed a range of patient reported outcome measures. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were performed to assess for differences between patient reported outcome measures and radiological outcomes across the follow-up periods. Univariate linear regression and logistic regression were used to assess for predictors of change in functional outcome. Results: Patients had a significant correction in mean lateral centre edge angle from 17.2\ub0 to 35.3\ub0 (p < 0.001) and mean acetabular index from 13.2\ub0 to − 0.82\ub0. At one year follow-up all patient reported outcome measures were significantly greater than their baseline measurements and this improvement was maintained at two years. Changes in patient reported outcome measures were independent of radiological parameters such as change in the lateral centre edge angle and acetabular index, pre-operative T\uf6nnis grade, and patient factors such as age and sex. A total of 5.11% of patients developed post-operative complications, with four requiring posterior column fixation. Four patients (1.12%) needed a total hip replacement. Conclusion: Minimally invasive periacetabular osteotomy is a safe procedure that provides significant functional outcome improvements following surgery at six months which is maintained at two years. More than three-fourths of patients achieved improvement of iHOT-12 score beyond the minimal clinically important difference and more than half of the patients achieved substantial clinical benefit for iHOT-12 score

The Influence of Game Demand on Distraction from Experimental Pain: A fNIRS Study

Video games are the most effective form of distraction from procedural pain compared to other distraction techniques, such as watching television or reading a book (Hussein, 2015). The degree of cognitive engagement with the game is a strong influence on the capacity of game-playing to distract from pain. By increasing game demand to a level that demands maximum levels of attention, it is possible to optimise distraction from pain; however, if the game becomes too difficult, it will fail to act as a distraction

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTIMODAL NEUROADAPTIVE GAMING TECHNOLOGY TO DISTRACT FROM PAINFUL EXPERIENCES.

Painful experiences can be mitigated by distraction techniques such as video game distraction, due to limited available attentional resources. There are many benefits to using video games as a non-pharmacological intervention, including their cost-effectiveness and absence of side effects or withdrawal symptoms. However, video games cannot provide a distraction which is sufficient for pain management if they are not engaging. This work aims to discuss how and why video games capture attention and explore how modulating game factors can affect the response to pain. The aim of this work in its entirety is to develop a neuroadaptive game which is tailored to reorient attention away from a painful experience, and towards the distraction technique. The neuroadaptive element of this technology will enable a balance of challenge and skill which make a unique and playable game for each participant. The development of the neuroadaptive game was supported by two studies. Study One focused on the determination of optimal game difficulty level for pain distraction, and Study Two furthered this research, alongside determining optimal neurological sites for the monitoring of attention and attentional reorientation. Study 3 explored the use of a neuroadaptive gaming technology to distract from pain – a bespoke, real-time data processing pipeline was developed for this purpose. The limitations of the neuroadaptive game are discussed in detail with considerations for future work and development. The results of the three studies carried out during the course of this work indicate that real-time pre-processing and classification of fNIRS data to a good standard is possible. The studies also revealed that the montage for data collection and features used for data collection are crucial considerations for classification accuracy. This thesis also has implications for further work into neuroadaptive technologies and how these systems can be tested and verified. Statistical significance between a non-neuroadaptive game and a neuroadaptive game was not found throughout the course of this work, although the potential explanations and future considerations are discussed in detail. Overall, we were able to confirm that pain tolerance can be improved with the use of a distraction task, but that the balance of task difficulty and skill level is delicate and requires further exploration

What do we know about indoor air quality of nurseries? A review of the literature

Considering the alarming rise in the rate of asthma and respiratory diseases among school children, it is of great importance to investigate all probable causes. Outside of the home, children spend most of their time in school. Many studies have researched the indoor environmental quality of primary and secondary school buildings to determine the exposure of school children to indoor air pollution. However, studies of very young children in nurseries are scarce. Unlike at elementary schools or universities, children in nurseries are more vulnerable due to their physiology, inability to articulate discomfort and to adapt their behaviour to avoid exposures. This article reviews current studies on the indoor environment in nurseries. It summarizes air pollution levels and related environmental and behavioural factors in nurseries that have been reported in the literature. Additionally, exposure to indoor air pollution and related potential health outcomes are examined. This review concludes that indoor air pollution in nurseries often exceeds current guidelines, and designers and policymakers should be made aware of the impact on the health and wellbeing of children in nurseries. Proper interventions and guidelines should be considered to create a healthy indoor environment for nursery children. Practical application : Previous IAQ assessments have mainly focused on indoor temperatures and CO levels. Data on comprehensive monitoring (including PMs, NO , O and other pollutants) of indoor air quality of nurseries are scarce. Particularly in the UK, studies about indoor air quality in nurseries have not been founded. This paper categorized relevant articles according to the focus of the study, to provide evidence to a better understanding of current indoor air quality in nursery environments. 2 2

Remarks on the k-error linear complexity of p(n)-periodic sequences

Recently the first author presented exact formulas for the number of 2ⁿn-periodic binary sequences with given 1-error linear complexity, and an exact formula for the expected 1-error linear complexity and upper and lower bounds for the expected k-error linear complexity, k >2, of a random 2ⁿn-periodic binary sequence. A crucial role for the analysis played the Chan-Games algorithm. We use a more sophisticated generalization of the Chan-Games algorithm by Ding et al. to obtain exact formulas for the counting function and the expected value for the 1-error linear complexity for pⁿn-periodic sequences over Fp, p prime. Additionally we discuss the calculation of lower and upper bounds on the k-error linear complexity of pⁿn-periodic sequences over Fp