297 research outputs found
Accurate simulation estimates of phase behaviour in ternary mixtures with prescribed composition
This paper describes an isobaric semi-grand canonical ensemble Monte Carlo
scheme for the accurate study of phase behaviour in ternary fluid mixtures
under the experimentally relevant conditions of prescribed pressure,
temperature and overall composition. It is shown how to tune the relative
chemical potentials of the individual components to target some requisite
overall composition and how, in regions of phase coexistence, to extract
accurate estimates for the compositions and phase fractions of individual
coexisting phases. The method is illustrated by tracking a path through the
composition space of a model ternary Lennard-Jones mixture.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Electronic Structures of Quantum Dots and the Ultimate Resolution of Integers
The orbital angular momentum L as an integer can be ultimately factorized as
a product of prime numbers. We show here a close relation between the
resolution of L and the classification of quantum states of an N-electron
2-dimensional system. In this scheme, the states are in essence classified into
different types according to the m(k)-accessibility, namely the ability to get
access to symmetric geometric configurations. The m(k)-accessibility is an
universal concept underlying all kinds of 2-dimensional systems with a center.
Numerical calculations have been performed to reveal the electronic structures
of the states of the dots with 9 and 19 electrons,respectively. This paper
supports the Laughlin wave finction and the composite fermion model from the
aspect of symmetry.Comment: Two figure
Sensorimotor impairments of paretic upper limb correlates with activities of daily living in subjects with chronic stroke
The  main objective  of  this  study  was  to  investigate  the correlations  between sensorimotor  impairments  of  paretic  upper  limb  and the  hand  functions of  activities of daily  living  (ADLs)  scores  in  persons  with chronic stroke.This is a cross-sectional  study  with  19  chronic  stroke  survivors.  Hand function was measured by the Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test (JTHFT). Impairments in upper extremity motor function were measured by upper limb items  of  Fugl-Meyer  Assessment  (FMA-UE).  Forearm  muscles  strength, handgrip  and  pinch  grip  power  were  assessed  using  handheld  dynamo-meters. Tactile sensation threshold was measured by monofilaments.Significant differences were found between the affected and unaffected side in the total JTHFT scores, forearm muscle strength, handgrip and pinch grip (pâ¤0.017), but not the tactile sensa-tion threshold.  The total JTHFT scores were found to be correlated with total score of FMA-UE (rs = -0.789), hand-grip  power  (rs = -0.588) and pinch grip power (rs = -0.657) on the affected side, but not the tactile sensation. The total JTHFT scores were correlated with FMA-UE scores, handgrip and pinch grip of the affected side.  This is the first study in documenting the correlation between the sensorimotor impairments and JTHFT scores in persons with  chronic stroke. Our findings highlights the importance of including upper limb and grip strength training in stroke rehabilitation program in order to improve hand functions in activities of daily living in patients with chronic stroke
Gender-specific estimates of sleep problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: Systematic review and meta-analysis
Summary
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
changed lifestyles
worldwide and subsequently induced individualsâ sleep problems. Sleep problems
have been demonstrated by scattered evidence among the current literature on
COVID-19;
however, little is known regarding the synthesised prevalence of sleep
problems (i.e. insomnia symptoms and poor sleep quality) for males and females separately.
The present systematic review and meta-analysis
aimed to answer the important
question regarding prevalence of sleep problems during the COVID-19
outbreak
period between genders. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews
and Meta-Analyses
guideline and NewcastleâOttawa
Scale checklist, relevant studies
with satisfactory methodological quality searched for in five academic databases
(Scopus, PubMed Central, ProQuest, Web of Science , and EMBASE) were included and
analysed. The protocol of the project was registered in the International Prospective
Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; identification code CRD42020181644).
A total of 54 papers (N = 67,722) in the female subgroup and 45 papers (N = 45,718) in
the male subgroup were pooled in the meta-analysis.
The corrected pooled estimated
prevalence of sleep problems was 24% (95% confidence interval [CI] 19%â29%)
for female
participants and 27% (95% CI 24%â30%)
for male participants. Although in both
gender subgroups, patients with COVID-19,
health professionals and general population
showed the highest prevalence of sleep problems, it did not reach statistical
significance. Based on multivariable meta-regression,
both gender groups had higher
prevalence of sleep problems during the lockdown period. Therefore, healthcare providers
should pay attention to the sleep problems and take appropriate preventive
action
Acute renal impairment in coronavirus-associated severe acute respiratory syndrome
Acute renal impairment in coronavirus-associated severe acute respiratory syndrome.BackgroundSevere acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a newly emerged infection from a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Apart from fever and respiratory complications, acute renal impairment has been observed in some patients with SARS. Herein, we describe the clinical, pathologic, and laboratory features of the acute renal impairment complicating this new viral infection.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective analysis of the plasma creatinine concentration and other clinical parameters of the 536 SARS patients with normal plasma creatinine at first clinical presentation, admitted to two regional hospitals following a major outbreak in Hong Kong in March 2003. Kidney tissues from seven other patients with postmortem examinations were studied by light microscopy and electron microscopy.ResultsAmong these 536 patients with SARS, 36 (6.7%) developed acute renal impairment occurring at a median duration of 20 days (range 5â48 days) after the onset of viral infection despite a normal plasma creatinine level at first clinical presentation. The acute renal impairment reflected the different prerenal and renal factors that exerted renal insult occurring in the context of multiorgan failure. Eventually, 33 SARS patients (91.7%) with acute renal impairment died. The mortality rate was significantly higher among patients with SARS and acute renal impairment compared with those with SARS and no renal impairment (91.7% vs. 8.8%) (P < 0.0001). Renal tissues revealed predominantly acute tubular necrosis with no evidence of glomerular pathology. The adjusted relative risk of mortality associated with the development of acute renal impairment was 4.057 (P < 0.001). By multivariate analysis, acute respiratory distress syndrome and age were the most significant independent risk factors predicting the development of acute renal impairment in SARS.ConclusionAcute renal impairment is uncommon in SARS but carries a high mortality. The acute renal impairment is likely to be related to multi-organ failure rather than the kidney tropism of the virus. The development of acute renal impairment is an important negative prognostic indicator for survival with SARS
Psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire and Weight Bias Internalization Scale in children and adolescents
Determination of left atrial volume in healthy dogs and dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease
Measurement of Cosmic-ray Muon-induced Spallation Neutrons in the Aberdeen Tunnel Underground Laboratory
AbstractMuon-induced neutrons are one of the major backgrounds to various underground experiments, such as dark matter searches, low-energy neutrino oscillation experiments and neutrino-less double beta-decay experiments. Previous experiments on the underground production rate of muon-induced neutrons were mostly carried out either at shallow sites or at very deep sites. The Aberdeen Tunnel experiment aims to measure the neutron production rate at a moderate depth of 611 meters water equivalent. Our apparatus comprises of six layers of plastic-scintillator hodoscopes for tracking the incident cosmic-ray muons, and 760 L of gadolinium-doped liquid-scintillator for both neutron production and detection targets. In this paper, we describe the design and the performance of the apparatus. The preliminary result on the measurement of neutron production rate is also presented
Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset
corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected
during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV.
The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the
couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and
right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary
mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b,
leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing
transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W'
boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to
the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for
masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC
data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed
coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant
improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe
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