16 research outputs found
Porosity measurements of interstellar ice mixtures using optical laser interference and extended effective medium approximations
Aims. This article aims to provide an alternative method of measuring the
porosity of multi-phase composite ices from their refractive indices and of
characterising how the abundance of a premixed contaminant (e.g., CO2) affects
the porosity of water-rich ice mixtures during omni-directional deposition.
Methods. We combine optical laser interference and extended effective medium
approximations (EMAs) to measure the porosity of three astrophysically relevant
ice mixtures: H2O:CO2=10:1, 4:1, and 2:1. Infrared spectroscopy is used as a
benchmarking test of this new laboratory-based method. Results. By
independently monitoring the O-H dangling modes of the different water-rich ice
mixtures, we confirm the porosities predicted by the extended EMAs. We also
demonstrate that CO2 premixed with water in the gas phase does not
significantly affect the ice morphology during omni-directional deposition, as
long as the physical conditions favourable to segregation are not reached. We
propose a mechanism in which CO2 molecules diffuse on the surface of the
growing ice sample prior to being incorporated into the bulk and then fill the
pores partly or completely, depending on the relative abundance and the growth
temperature.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in A&
The cooling rate of neutron stars after thermonuclear shell flashes
Thermonuclear shell flashes on neutron stars are detected as bright X-ray
bursts. Traditionally, their decay is modeled with an exponential function.
However, this is not what theory predicts. The expected functional form for
luminosities below the Eddington limit, at times when there is no significant
nuclear burning, is a power law. We tested the exponential and power-law
functional forms against the best data available: bursts measured with the
high-throughput Proportional Counter Array (PCA) on board the Rossi X-ray
Timing Explorer. We selected a sample of 35 'clean' and ordinary (i.e., shorter
than a few minutes) bursts from 14 different neutron stars that 1) show a large
dynamic range in luminosity, 2) are the least affected by disturbances by the
accretion disk and 3) lack prolonged nuclear burning through the rp-process. We
find indeed that for every burst a power law is a better description than an
exponential function. We also find that the decay index is steep, 1.8 on
average, and different for every burst. This may be explained by contributions
from degenerate electrons and photons to the specific heat capacity of the
ignited layer and by deviations from the Stefan-Boltzmann law due to changes in
the opacity with density and temperature. Detailed verification of this
explanation yields inconclusive results. While the values for the decay index
are consistent, changes of it with the burst time scale, as a proxy of ignition
depth, and with time are not supported by model calculations.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, recommended for publication in A&
Kwaliteit van zorg rondom een totale heup- of knieoperatie vanuit het perspectief van patiënten: meetinstrumentontwikkeling en validatie.
CQ-index Hartfalen: meetinstrumentontwikkeling. Ervaringen met de kwaliteit van zorg vanuit het perspectief van mensen met chronisch hartfalen.
Utility of computed tomography of the head following head trauma in boys with haemophilia
Using business intelligence and data visualization to understand the characteristics of failed appointments in dental school clinics
Purpose/ObjectivesBroken appointments are an important cause of waste in health care. Patients who fail to attend incur costs to providers, deny trainees learning opportunities, and impact their own health as well as that of other patients who are waiting for care.MethodsA total of 410,000 appointment records over 3 years were extracted from our electronic health record. We conducted exploratory data analysis and assessed correlations between appointment noâshows and other attributes of the appointment and the patient. The University of Michigan Medical Schoolâs Committee on Human Research reviewed the study and deemed that no Institutional Review Board oversight was necessary for this quality improvement project that was, retrospectively, turned into a study with previously deâidentified data.ResultsThe patientâs previous attendance record is the single most significant correlation with attendance. We found that patients who said they are âscaredâ of dental visits were 62% as likely to attend as someone reporting âno problem.â Patients over 65 years of age have better attendance rates. There was a positive association between receiving email/text confirmation and attendance. A total of 94.9% of those emailed a reminder and 92.2% of those who were texted attended their appointment.Conclusion(s)We were able to identify relationships of several variables to failed and attended appointments that we were previously unknown to us. This knowledge enabled us to implement interventions to support better attendance at Dental Clinics at the University of Michigan, improving patient health, student training, and efficient use of resources.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/167440/1/jdd12538.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/167440/2/jdd12538_am.pd