485 research outputs found
A Chinese immigrant paradox? Low coronary heart disease incidence but higher short?term mortality in western?dwelling Chinese immigrants: a systematic review and meta?analysis.
Background-—Chinese form a large proportion of the immigrant population in Western countries. There is evidence that Chineseimmigrants experience an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) after immigration in part due to cultural habits andacculturation. This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis that aims to examine the risk of CHD in people of Chineseethnicity living in Western countries, in comparison with whites and another major immigrant group, South Asians.Methods and Results-—Literature on the incidence, mortality, and prognosis of CHD among Chinese living in Western countrieswas searched systematically in any language using 6 electronic databases up to December 2014. Based on the meta-analysis,Chinese had lower incidence of CHD compared with whites (odds ratio 0.29; 95% CI: 0.24–0.34) and South Asians (odds ratio 0.37;95% CI: 0.24–0.57) but higher short-term mortality after first hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction compared with whites(odds ratio 1.34; 95% CI, 1.04–1.73) and South Asians (odds ratio 1.82; 95% 1.33–2.50). There was no significant differencebetween Chinese immigrants and whites in long-term outcomes (mortality and recurrent events) after acute myocardial infarction.Conclusions-—These findings provide an important focus for resource planning to enhance early secondary prevention of CHD toimprove short-term survival outcomes among Western-dwelling Chinese immigrants
Manipulating the Tomonaga-Luttinger exponent by electric field modulation
We establish a theoretical framework for artificial control of the power-law
singularities in Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid states. The exponent governing the
power-law behaviors is found to increase significantly with an increase in the
amplitude of the periodic electric field modulation applied externally to the
system. This field-induced shift in the exponent indicates the tunability of
the transport properties of quasi-one-dimensional electron systems.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Evaluation of Environmental Contamination and Estimated Radiation Doses for the Return to Residents’ Homes in Kawauchi Village, Fukushima Prefecture
To evaluate the environmental contamination and radiation exposure dose rates due to artificial radionuclides in Kawauchi Village, Fukushima Prefecture, the restricted area within a 30-km radius from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP), the concentrations of artificial radionuclides in soil samples, tree needles, and mushrooms were analyzed by gamma spectrometry. Nine months have passed since samples were collected on December 19 and 20, 2011, 9 months after the FNPP accident, and the prevalent dose-forming artificial radionuclides from all samples were 134Cs and 137Cs. The estimated external effective doses from soil samples were 0.42-7.2 μSv/h (3.7-63.0 mSv/y) within the 20-km radius from FNPP and 0.0011-0.38 μSv/h (0.010-3.3 mSv/y) within the 20-30 km radius from FNPP. The present study revealed that current levels are sufficiently decreasing in Kawauchi Village, especially in areas within the 20- to 30-km radius from FNPP. Thus, residents may return their homes with long-term follow-up of the environmental monitoring and countermeasures such as decontamination and restrictions of the intake of foods for reducing unnecessary exposure. The case of Kawauchi Village will be the first model for the return to residents\u27 homes after the FNPP accident
Primary proton spectrum between 200 TeV and 1000 TeV observed with the Tibet burst detector and air shower array
Since 1996, a hybrid experiment consisting of the emulsion chamber and burst
detector array and the Tibet-II air-shower array has been operated at
Yangbajing (4300 m above sea level, 606 g/cm^2) in Tibet. This experiment can
detect air-shower cores, called as burst events, accompanied by air showers in
excess of about 100 TeV. We observed about 4300 burst events accompanied by air
showers during 690 days of operation and selected 820 proton-induced events
with its primary energy above 200 TeV using a neural network method. Using this
data set, we obtained the energy spectrum of primary protons in the energy
range from 200 to 1000 TeV. The differential energy spectrum obtained in this
energy region can be fitted by a power law with the index of -2.97 0.06,
which is steeper than that obtained by direct measurements at lower energies.
We also obtained the energy spectrum of helium nuclei at particle energies
around 1000 TeV.Comment: 25 pages, 22 figures, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Detection of Multi-TeV Gamma Rays from Markarian 501 during an Unforeseen Flaring State in 1997 with the Tibet Air Shower Array
In 1997, the BL Lac Object Mrk 501 entered a very active phase and was the
brightest source in the sky at TeV energies, showing strong and frequent
flaring. Using the data obtained with a high density air shower array that has
been operating successfully at Yangbajing in Tibet since 1996, we searched for
gamma-ray signals from this source during the period from February through
August in 1997. Our observation detected multi-TeV -ray signals at the
3.7-Sigma level during this period. The most rapid increase of the excess
counts was observed between April 7 and June 16 and the statistical
significance of the excess counts in this period was 4.7-Sigma. Among several
observations of flaring TeV gamma-rays from Mrk 501 in 1997, this is the only
observation using a conventional air shower array. We present the energy
spectrum of gamma-rays which will be worthy to compare with those obtained by
imaging atmospheric Cerenkov telescopes.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, To appear in Ap
Observation of Multi-Tev Gamma Rays from the Crab Nebula Using the Tibet Air Shower Array
The Tibet experiment, operating at Yangbajing (4,300 m above sea level), is
the lowest energy air shower array and the new high density array constructed
in 1996 has sensitivity to -ray air showers at energies as low as 3
TeV. With this new array, the Crab Nebula was observed in multi-TeV
-rays and a signal was detected at the 5.5 level. We also
obtained the energy spectrum of -rays in the energy region above 3 TeV
which partially overlaps those observed with imaging atmospheric Cherenkov
telescopes. This is the first observation of -ray signals from point
sources with a conventional air shower array using scintillation detectors.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Observation of Multi-Tev Diffuse Gamma Rays from the Galactic Plane with the Tibet Air Shower Array
Data from the Tibet-III air shower array (with energies around 3 TeV) and
from the Tibet-II array (with energies around 10 TeV) have been searched for
diffuse gamma rays from the Galactic plane. These arrays have an angular
resolution of about 0.9 degrees. The sky regions searched are the inner Galaxy,
20 degrees <= l <= 55 degrees, and outer Galaxy, 140 degrees <= l <= 225
degrees, and |b| <= 2 degrees or <= 5 degrees. No significant Galactic plane
gamma-ray excess was observed. The 99% confidence level upper limits for
gamma-ray intensity obtained are (for |b| <= 2 degrees) 1.1 times 10^{-15}
cm^{-2}s^{-1}sr^{-1}MeV^{-1} at 3 TeV and 4.1 times 10^{-17}
cm^{-2}s^{-1}sr^{-1}MeV^{-1} at 10 TeV for the inner Galaxy, and 3.6 times
10^{-16} cm^{-2}s^{-1}sr^{-1}MeV^{-1} at 3 TeV and 1.3 times 10^{-17}
cm^{-2}s^{-1}sr^{-1}MeV^{-1} at 10 TeV for the outer Galaxy, assuming a
differential spectral index of 2.4. The upper limits are significant in the
multi-TeV region when compared to those from Cherenkov telescopes in the lower
energy region and other air shower arrays in the higher energy region; however,
the results are not sufficient to rule out the inverse Compton model with a
source electron spectral index of 2.0.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap
The neuroscience of vision-based grasping: a functional review for computational modeling and bio-inspired robotics
The topic of vision-based grasping is being widely studied using various techniques and
with different goals in humans and in other primates. The fundamental related findings are
reviewed in this paper, with the aim of providing researchers from different fields, including
intelligent robotics and neural computation, a comprehensive but accessible view on the
subject. A detailed description of the principal sensorimotor processes and the brain areas
involved in them is provided following a functional perspective, in order to make this survey
especially useful for computational modeling and bio-inspired robotic application
A bovine lymphosarcoma cell line infected with theileria annulata exhibits an irreversible reconfiguration of host cell gene expression
Theileria annulata, an intracellular parasite of bovine lymphoid cells, induces substantial phenotypic alterations to its host cell including continuous proliferation, cytoskeletal changes and resistance to apoptosis. While parasite induced modulation of host cell signal transduction pathways and NFκB activation are established, there remains considerable speculation on the complexities of the parasite directed control mechanisms that govern these radical changes to the host cell. Our objectives in this study were to provide a comprehensive analysis of the global changes to host cell gene expression with emphasis on those that result from direct intervention by the parasite. By using comparative microarray analysis of an uninfected bovine cell line and its Theileria infected counterpart, in conjunction with use of the specific parasitacidal agent, buparvaquone, we have identified a large number of host cell gene expression changes that result from parasite infection. Our results indicate that the viable parasite can irreversibly modify the transformed phenotype of a bovine cell line. Fifty percent of genes with altered expression failed to show a reversible response to parasite death, a possible contributing factor to initiation of host cell apoptosis. The genes that did show an early predicted response to loss of parasite viability highlighted a sub-group of genes that are likely to be under direct control by parasite infection. Network and pathway analysis demonstrated that this sub-group is significantly enriched for genes involved in regulation of chromatin modification and gene expression. The results provide evidence that the Theileria parasite has the regulatory capacity to generate widespread change to host cell gene expression in a complex and largely irreversible manner
A Cryogenic Silicon Interferometer for Gravitational-wave Detection
The detection of gravitational waves from compact binary mergers by LIGO has opened the era of gravitational wave astronomy, revealing a previously hidden side of the cosmos. To maximize the reach of the existing LIGO observatory facilities, we have designed a new instrument that will have 5 times the range of Advanced LIGO, or greater than 100 times the event rate. Observations with this new instrument will make possible dramatic steps toward understanding the physics of the nearby universe, as well as observing the universe out to cosmological distances by the detection of binary black hole coalescences. This article presents the instrument design and a quantitative analysis of the anticipated noise floor
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