5,189 research outputs found
Delay in diabetic retinopathy screening increases the rate of detection of referable diabetic retinopathy
Aims - To assess whether there is a relationship between delay in retinopathy screening after diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes and level of retinopathy detected.
Methods - Patients were referred from 88 primary care practices to an English National Health Service diabetic eye screening programme. Data for screened patients were extracted from the primary care databases using semi-automated data collection algorithms supplemented by validation processes. The programme uses two-field mydriatic digital photographs graded by a quality assured team.
Results - Data were available for 8183 screened patients with diabetes newly diagnosed in 2005, 2006 or 2007. Only 163 with Type 1 diabetes were identified and were insufficient for analysis. Data were available for 8020 with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes. Of these, 3569 were screened within 6 months, 2361 between 6 and 11 months, 1058 between 12 and 17 months, 366 between 18 and 23 months, 428 between 24 and 35 months, and 238 at 3 years or more after diagnosis. There were 5416 (67.5%) graded with no retinopathy, 1629 (20.3%) with background retinopathy in one eye, 753 (9.4%) with background retinopathy in both eyes and 222 (2.8%) had referable diabetic retinopathy. There was a significant trend (P = 0.0004) relating time from diagnosis to screening detecting worsening retinopathy. Of those screened within 6 months of diagnosis, 2.3% had referable retinopathy and, 3 years or more after diagnosis, 4.2% had referable retinopathy.
Conclusions - The rate of detection of referable diabetic retinopathy is elevated in those who were not screened promptly after diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes
Subtleties on energy calculations in the image method
In this pedagogical work we point out a subtle mistake that can be done by
undergraduate or graduate students in the computation of the electrostatic
energy of a system containing charges and perfect conductors if they naively
use the image method. Specifically, we show that the naive expressions for the
electrostatic energy for these systems obtained directly from the image method
are wrong by a factor 1/2. We start our discussion with well known examples,
namely, point charge-perfectly conducting wall and point charge-perfectly
conducting sphere and then proceed to the demonstration of general results,
valid for conductors of arbitrary shapes.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures; Major change in this version: subsection added to
Sect.4 (theorem generalization). Minor changes: title replaced; corrections
to the English; some explanatory comments adde
Efficient channeling of fluorescence photons from single quantum dots into guided modes of optical nanofiber
We experimentally demonstrate the efficient channeling of fluorescence
photons from single q-dots on optical nanofiber into the guided modes, by
measuring the photon-count rates through the guided and radiation modes
simultaneously. We obtain the maximum channeling efficiency to be 22.0
(\pm4.8)% at fiber diameter of 350 nm for the emission wavelength of 780 nm.
The results may open new possibilities in quantum information technologies for
generating single photons into single-mode optical-fibers.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Axially open nonradiative structures: an example of single-mode resonator based on the sample holder
The concept of nonradiative dielectric resonator is generalized in order to
include axially open configurations having rotational invariance. The resulting
additional nonradiative conditions are established for the different resonance
modes on the basis of their azimuthal modal index. An approximate chart of the
allowed dielectric and geometrical parameters for the TE011 mode is given. A
practical realization of the proposed device based on commercial fused quartz
tubes is demonstrated at millimeter wavelengths, together with simple
excitation and tuning mechanisms. The observed resonances are characterized in
their basic parameters, as well as in the field distribution by means of a
finite element method. The predictions of the theoretical analysis are well
confirmed, both in the general behaviour and in the expected quality factors.
The resulting device, in which the sample holder acts itself as single-mode
resonating element, combines an extreme ease of realization with
state-of-the-art performances. The general benefits of the proposed open
single-mode resonators are finally discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure
A single structured light beam as an atomic cloud splitter
We propose a scheme to split a cloud of cold non-interacting neutral atoms
based on their dipole interaction with a single structured light beam which
exhibits parabolic cylindrical symmetry. Using semiclassical numerical
simulations, we establish a direct relationship between the general properties
of the light beam and the relevant geometric and kinematic properties acquired
by the atomic cloud as its passes through the beam.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Delay-bandwidth and delay-loss limitations for cloaking of large objects
Based on a simple model of ground-plane cloaking, we argue that the diffculty
of cloaking is fundamentally limited by delay-loss and delaylbandwidth/size
limitations that worsen as the size of the object to be cloaked increases
relative to the wavelength. These considerations must be taken into account
when scaling experimental cloaking demonstrations from wavelength-scale objects
towards larger sizes, and suggest quantitative material/loss challenges in
cloaking human-scale objects.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Dynamics of a liquid dielectric attracted by a cylindrical capacitor
The dynamics of a liquid dielectric attracted by a vertical cylindrical
capacitor is studied. Contrary to what might be expected from the standard
calculation of the force exerted by the capacitor, the motion of the dielectric
is different depending on whether the charge or the voltage of the capacitor is
held constant. The problem turns out to be an unconventional example of
dynamics of a system with variable mass, whose velocity can, in certain
circumstances, suffer abrupt changes. Under the hypothesis that the voltage
remains constant the motion is described in qualitative and quantitative
details, and a very brief qualitative discussion is made of the constant charge
case.Comment: To appear in European Journal of Physic
Can a charged ring levitate a neutral, polarizable object? Can Earnshaw's Theorem be extended to such objects?
Stable electrostatic levitation and trapping of a neutral, polarizable object
by a charged ring is shown to be theoretically impossible. Earnshaw's Theorem
precludes the existence of such a stable, neutral particle trap.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur
Fault tectonics and earthquake hazards in parts of southern California
The author has identified the following significant results. Four previously unknown faults were discovered in basement terrane of the Peninsular Ranges. These have been named the San Ysidro Creek fault, Thing Valley fault, Canyon City fault, and Warren Canyon fault. In addition fault gouge and breccia were recognized along the San Diego River fault. Study of features on Skylab imagery and review of geologic and seismic data suggest that the risk of a damaging earthquake is greater along the northwestern portion of the Elsinore fault than along the southeastern portion. Physiographic indicators of active faulting along the Garlock fault identifiable in Skylab imagery include scarps, linear ridges, shutter ridges, faceted ridges, linear valleys, undrained depressions and offset drainage. The following previously unrecognized fault segments are postulated for the Salton Trough Area: (1) An extension of a previously known fault in the San Andreas fault set located southeast of the Salton Sea; (2) An extension of the active San Jacinto fault zone along a tonal change in cultivated fields across Mexicali Valley ( the tonal change may represent different soil conditions along opposite sides of a fault). For the Skylab and LANDSAT images studied, pseudocolor transformations offer no advantages over the original images in the recognition of faults in Skylab and LANDSAT images. Alluvial deposits of different ages, a marble unit and iron oxide gossans of the Mojave Mining District are more readily differentiated on images prepared from ratios of individual bands of the S-192 multispectral scanner data. The San Andreas fault was also made more distinct in the 8/2 and 9/2 band ratios by enhancement of vegetation differences on opposite sides of the fault. Preliminary analysis indicates a significant earth resources potential for the discrimination of soil and rock types, including mineral alteration zones. This application should be actively pursued
Analysis of pseudocolor transformations of ERTS-1 images of Southern California area
The author has identified the following significant results. Representative faults and lineaments, natural features on the Mojave Desert, and cultural features of the southern California area were studied on ERTS-1 images. The relative appearances of the features were compared on a band 4 and 5 subtraction image, its pseudocolor transformation, and pseudocolor images of bands 4, 5, and 7. Selected features were also evaluated in a test given students at the University of California, Los Angeles. Observations and the test revealed no significant improvement in the ability to detect and locate faults and lineaments on the pseudocolor transformations. With the exception of dry lake surfaces, no enhancement of the features studied was observed on the bands 4 and 5 subtraction images. Geologic and geographic features characterized by minor tonal differences on relatively flat surfaces were enhanced on some of the pseudocolor images
- …