426 research outputs found
Effect of nipple shield use on milk removal: A mechanistic study
Background
Concerns about reduced milk transfer with nipple shield (NS) use are based on evidence from studies with methodological flaws. Milk removal during breastfeeding can be impacted by infant and maternal factors other than NS use. The aim of this study was to control electric breast pump vacuum strength, pattern and duration across multiple study sessions to determine if NS use reduces milk removal from the breast.
Methods
A within-subject study with two groups of breastfeeding mothers (infants < 6 months) were recruited; Control Group (CG): no breastfeeding difficulties; Pain Group (PG) used NS for persistent nipple pain. Mothers completed three randomised 15 min pumping sessions using the Symphony vacuum curve (Medela AG); no NS, fitted NS, and a small NS. Sessions were considered valid where the applied vacuum was within 20 mmHg of the set vacuum. Milk removal was considered as pumped milk volume, and also percentage of available milk removed (PAMR), which is calculated as the pumped volume divided by the estimated milk volume stored in the breast immediately prior to pumping.
Results
Of 62 sessions (all: n = 31 paired sessions) a total of 11 paired sessions from both PG (n = 03) and CG (n = 08) were valid (subset) with and without a fitted NS. Only 2 small shield sessions were valid and so all small shield measurements were excluded. Both pumped volumes and PAMR were significantly lower with NS use for all data but not for subset data. (All: Volume and PAMR median: no NS: 76.5 mL, 69%, Fitted NS: 32.1 mL, 41% respectively (volume p = 0.002, PAMR p = 0.002); Subset: Volume and PAMR median: no NS: 83.8 mL, 72%; Fitted NS: 35.2 mL, 40% (volume p = 0.111 and PAMR p = 0.045). The difference in PAMR, but not volume, was statistically significant when analysed by linear mixed modelling. A decrease of 10 mmHg was associated with a 4.4% increase in PAMR (p = 0.017).
Conclusions
This experimental data suggests that nipple shield use may reduce milk removal. Close clinical monitoring of breastfeeding mothers using nipple shields is warranted
Pattern formation and localization in the forced-damped FPU lattice
We study spatial pattern formation and energy localization in the dynamics of
an anharmonic chain with quadratic and quartic intersite potential subject to
an optical, sinusoidally oscillating field and a weak damping. The
zone-boundary mode is stable and locked to the driving field below a critical
forcing that we determine analytically using an approximate model which
describes mode interactions. Above such a forcing, a standing modulated wave
forms for driving frequencies below the band-edge, while a ``multibreather''
state develops at higher frequencies. Of the former, we give an explicit
approximate analytical expression which compares well with numerical data. At
higher forcing space-time chaotic patterns are observed.Comment: submitted to Phys.Rev.
Direct J/psi and psi' hadroproduction via fragmentation in the collinear parton model and k_T-factorization approach
The p_T-spectra for direct J/psi and psi' in hadroproduction at Tevatron
energy have been calculated based on NRQCD formalism and fragmentation
approximation in the collinear parton model and k_T-factorization approach. We
have described the CDF data and obtained a good agreement between the
predictions obtained in the parton model and k_T-factorization approach. We
performed the calculations using the relevant leading order in alpha_s hard
amplitudes and the equal values of the color-octet long-distance matrix
elements for the both models.Comment: 10 pages, Latex, 4 eps figures, epsfig.sty, graphics.st
Interruption of torus doubling bifurcation and genesis of strange nonchaotic attractors in a quasiperiodically forced map : Mechanisms and their characterizations
A simple quasiperiodically forced one-dimensional cubic map is shown to
exhibit very many types of routes to chaos via strange nonchaotic attractors
(SNAs) with reference to a two-parameter space. The routes include
transitions to chaos via SNAs from both one frequency torus and period doubled
torus. In the former case, we identify the fractalization and type I
intermittency routes. In the latter case, we point out that atleast four
distinct routes through which the truncation of torus doubling bifurcation and
the birth of SNAs take place in this model. In particular, the formation of
SNAs through Heagy-Hammel, fractalization and type--III intermittent mechanisms
are described. In addition, it has been found that in this system there are
some regions in the parameter space where a novel dynamics involving a sudden
expansion of the attractor which tames the growth of period-doubling
bifurcation takes place, giving birth to SNA. The SNAs created through
different mechanisms are characterized by the behaviour of the Lyapunov
exponents and their variance, by the estimation of phase sensitivity exponent
as well as through the distribution of finite-time Lyapunov exponents.Comment: 27 pages, RevTeX 4, 16 EPS figures. Phys. Rev. E (2001) to appea
Theory and computation of covariant Lyapunov vectors
Lyapunov exponents are well-known characteristic numbers that describe growth
rates of perturbations applied to a trajectory of a dynamical system in
different state space directions. Covariant (or characteristic) Lyapunov
vectors indicate these directions. Though the concept of these vectors has been
known for a long time, they became practically computable only recently due to
algorithms suggested by Ginelli et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 2007, 130601] and
by Wolfe and Samelson [Tellus 59A, 2007, 355]. In view of the great interest in
covariant Lyapunov vectors and their wide range of potential applications, in
this article we summarize the available information related to Lyapunov vectors
and provide a detailed explanation of both the theoretical basics and numerical
algorithms. We introduce the notion of adjoint covariant Lyapunov vectors. The
angles between these vectors and the original covariant vectors are
norm-independent and can be considered as characteristic numbers. Moreover, we
present and study in detail an improved approach for computing covariant
Lyapunov vectors. Also we describe, how one can test for hyperbolicity of
chaotic dynamics without explicitly computing covariant vectors.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figure
On Black Hole Detection with the OWL/Airwatch Telescope
In scenarios with large extra dimensions and TeV scale gravity ultrahigh
energy neutrinos produce black holes in their interactions with the nucleons.
We show that ICECUBE and OWL may observe large number of black hole events and
provide valuable information about the fundamental Planck scale and the number
of extra dimensions. OWL is especially well suited to observe black hole events
produced by neutrinos from the interactions of cosmic rays with the 3 K
background radiation. Depending on the parameters of the scenario of large
extra dimensions and on the flux model, as many as 28 events per year are
expected for a Planck scale of 3 TeV.Comment: 8 pages, including 7 color figures, three figure captions corrected,
minor changes for clarification, one reference adde
Symmetry-breaking Effects for Polariton Condensates in Double-Well Potentials
We study the existence, stability, and dynamics of symmetric and anti-symmetric states of quasi-one-dimensional polariton condensates in double-well potentials, in the presence of nonresonant pumping and nonlinear damping. Some prototypical features of the system, such as the bifurcation of asymmetric solutions, are similar to the Hamiltonian analog of the double-well system considered in the realm of atomic condensates. Nevertheless, there are also some nontrivial differences including, e.g., the unstable nature of both the parent and the daughter branch emerging in the relevant pitchfork bifurcation for slightly larger values of atom numbers. Another interesting feature that does not appear in the atomic condensate case is that the bifurcation for attractive interactions is slightly sub-critical instead of supercritical. These conclusions of the bifurcation analysis are corroborated by direct numerical simulations examining the dynamics of the system in the unstable regime.MICINN (Spain) project FIS2008- 0484
Recent Progress on Anomalous X-ray Pulsars
I review recent observational progress on Anomalous X-ray Pulsars, with an
emphasis on timing, variability, and spectra. Highlighted results include the
recent timing and flux stabilization of the notoriously unstable AXP 1E
1048.1-5937, the remarkable glitches seen in two AXPs, the newly recognized
variety of AXP variability types, including outbursts, bursts, flares, and
pulse profile changes, as well as recent discoveries regarding AXP spectra,
including their surprising hard X-ray and far-infrared emission, as well as the
pulsed radio emission seen in one source. Much has been learned about these
enigmatic objects over the past few years, with the pace of discoveries
remaining steady. However additional work on both observational and theoretical
fronts is needed before we have a comprehensive understanding of AXPs and their
place in the zoo of manifestations of young neutron stars.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; to appear in proceedings of the conference
"Isolated Neutron Stars: From the Interior to the Surface" eds. S. Zane, R.
Turolla, D. Page; Astrophysics & Space Science in pres
Black Holes from Cosmic Rays: Probes of Extra Dimensions and New Limits on TeV-Scale Gravity
If extra spacetime dimensions and low-scale gravity exist, black holes will
be produced in observable collisions of elementary particles. For the next
several years, ultra-high energy cosmic rays provide the most promising window
on this phenomenon. In particular, cosmic neutrinos can produce black holes
deep in the Earth's atmosphere, leading to quasi-horizontal giant air showers.
We determine the sensitivity of cosmic ray detectors to black hole production
and compare the results to other probes of extra dimensions. With n \ge 4 extra
dimensions, current bounds on deeply penetrating showers from AGASA already
provide the most stringent bound on low-scale gravity, requiring a fundamental
Planck scale M_D > 1.3 - 1.8 TeV. The Auger Observatory will probe M_D as large
as 4 TeV and may observe on the order of a hundred black holes in 5 years. We
also consider the implications of angular momentum and possible exponentially
suppressed parton cross sections; including these effects, large black hole
rates are still possible. Finally, we demonstrate that even if only a few black
hole events are observed, a standard model interpretation may be excluded by
comparison with Earth-skimming neutrino rates.Comment: 30 pages, 18 figures; v2: discussion of gravitational infall, AGASA
and Fly's Eye comparison added; v3: Earth-skimming results modified and
strengthened, published versio
Electroweak Radiative Corrections to Neutral-Current Drell-Yan Processes at Hadron Colliders
We calculate the complete electroweak O(alpha) corrections to pp, pbar p ->
l+l- X (l=e, mu) in the Standard Model of electroweak interactions. They
comprise weak and photonic virtual one-loop corrections as well as real photon
radiation to the parton-level processes q bar q -> gamma,Z -> l+l-. We study in
detail the effect of the radiative corrections on the l+l- invariant mass
distribution, the cross section in the Z boson resonance region, and on the
forward-backward asymmetry, A_FB, at the Fermilab Tevatron and the CERN Large
Hadron Collider. The weak corrections are found to increase the Z boson cross
section by about 1%, but have little effect on the forward-backward asymmetry
in the Z peak region. Threshold effects of the W box diagrams lead to
pronounced effects in A_FB at m(l+l-) approx 160 GeV which, however, will be
difficult to observe experimentally. At high di-lepton invariant masses, the
non-factorizable weak corrections are found to become large.Comment: Revtex3 file, 39 pages, 2 tables, 12 figure
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