1,448 research outputs found
Lectures on Linear Stability of Rotating Black Holes
These lecture notes are concerned with linear stability of the non-extreme
Kerr geometry under perturbations of general spin. After a brief review of the
Kerr black hole and its symmetries, we describe these symmetries by Killing
fields and work out the connection to conservation laws. The Penrose process
and superradiance effects are discussed. Decay results on the long-time
behavior of Dirac waves are outlined. It is explained schematically how the
Maxwell equations and the equations for linearized gravitational waves can be
decoupled to obtain the Teukolsky equation. It is shown how the Teukolsky
equation can be fully separated to a system of coupled ordinary differential
equations. Linear stability of the non-extreme Kerr black hole is stated as a
pointwise decay result for solutions of the Cauchy problem for the Teukolsky
equation. The stability proof is outlined, with an emphasis on the underlying
ideas and methods.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX, 3 figures, lectures given at first DOMOSCHOOL in
July 2018, minor improvements (published version
Kerr-AdS and its Near-horizon Geometry: Perturbations and the Kerr/CFT Correspondence
We investigate linear perturbations of spin-s fields in the Kerr-AdS black
hole and in its near-horizon geometry (NHEK-AdS), using the Teukolsky master
equation and the Hertz potential. In the NHEK-AdS geometry we solve the
associated angular equation numerically and the radial equation exactly. Having
these explicit solutions at hand, we search for linear mode instabilities. We
do not find any (non-)axisymmetric instabilities with outgoing boundary
conditions. This is in agreement with a recent conjecture relating the
linearized stability properties of the full geometry with those of its
near-horizon geometry. Moreover, we find that the asymptotic behaviour of the
metric perturbations in NHEK-AdS violates the fall-off conditions imposed in
the formulation of the Kerr/CFT correspondence (the only exception being the
axisymmetric sector of perturbations).Comment: 26 pages. 4 figures. v2: references added. matches published versio
Pathology Informatics Essentials for Residents: A Flexible Informatics Curriculum Linked to Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Milestones (a secondary publication)*
Context: Recognition of the importance of informatics to the practice of pathology has surged. Training residents in pathology
informatics has been a daunting task for most residency programs in the United States because faculty often lacks experience and
training resources. Nevertheless, developing resident competence in informatics is essential for the future of pathology as a
specialty.
Objective: To develop and deliver a pathology informatics curriculum and instructional framework that guides pathology
residency programs in training residents in critical pathology informatics knowledge and skills, and meets Accreditation Council
for Graduate Medical Education Informatics Milestones.
Design: The College of American Pathologists, Association of Pathology Chairs, and Association for Pathology Informatics
formed a partnership and expert work group to identify critical pathology informatics training outcomes and to create a highly
adaptable curriculum and instructional approach, supported by a multiyear change management strategy.
Results: Pathology Informatics Essentials for Residents (PIER) is a rigorous approach for educating all pathology residents in
important pathology informatics knowledge and skills. PIER includes an instructional resource guide and toolkit for incorporating informatics training into residency programs that vary in needs, size, settings, and resources. PIER is available at http://
www.apcprods.org/PIER (accessed April 6, 2016).
Conclusions: PIER is an important contribution to informatics training in pathology residency programs. PIER introduces
pathology trainees to broadly useful informatics concepts and tools that are relevant to practice. PIER provides residency program
directors with a means to implement a standardized informatics training curriculum, to adapt the approach to local program
needs, and to evaluate resident performance and progress over time
Breastfeeding and childhood asthma: a six-year population-based cohort study
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The question of the protective effect of breastfeeding on development of asthma has raised substantial interest, but the scientific evidence of the optimal duration of breastfeeding is controversial.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The authors elaborated the optimal duration of breastfeeding with respect to the risk of asthma primarily, and secondarily to the risk of persistent wheezing, cough and phlegm in school age in a population-based cohort study with the baseline in 1991 and follow-up in 1997. The study population comprised 1984 children aged 7 to 14 years at the end of the follow-up (follow-up rate 77). Information on breastfeeding was based on the baseline survey and information on the health outcomes at the follow-up.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a U-shaped relation between breastfeeding and the outcomes with the lowest risk with breastfeeding from four to nine months for asthma and seven to nine months for persistent wheezing, cough and phlegm.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest a U shape relation between duration of breastfeeding and risk of asthma with an optimal duration of 4 to 6 months. A true concave relation would explain the inconsistent results from the previous studies.</p
Ipsilateral common iliac artery plus femoral artery clamping for inducing sciatic nerve ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats: a reliable and simple method
The aim of this study was to develop a practical model of sciatic ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury producing serious neurologic deficits and being technically feasible compared with the current time consuming or ineffective models. Thirty rats were divided into 6 groups (n = 5). Animal were anesthetized by using ketamine (50 mg/kg) and xylazine (4 mg/kg). Experimental groups included a sham-operated group and five I/R groups with different reperfusion time intervals (0 h, 3 h, 1 d, 4 d, 7 d). In I/R groups, the right common iliac artery and the right femoral artery were clamped for 3 hrs. Sham-operated animals underwent only laparotomy without induction of ischemia. Just before euthanasia, behavioral scores (based on gait, grasp, paw position, and pinch sensitivity) were obtained and then sciatic nerves were removed for light-microscopy studies (for ischemic fiber degeneration (IFD) and edema). Behavioral score deteriorated among the ischemic groups compared with the control group (p < 0.01), with maximal behavioral deficit occurring at 4 days of reperfusion. Axonal swelling and IFD were found to happen only after 4 and 7 days, respectively. Our observations led to an easy-to-use but strong enough method for inducing and studying I/R injury in peripheral nerves
Evolutionary approaches for the reverse-engineering of gene regulatory networks: A study on a biologically realistic dataset
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Inferring gene regulatory networks from data requires the development of algorithms devoted to structure extraction. When only static data are available, gene interactions may be modelled by a Bayesian Network (BN) that represents the presence of direct interactions from regulators to regulees by conditional probability distributions. We used enhanced evolutionary algorithms to stochastically evolve a set of candidate BN structures and found the model that best fits data without prior knowledge.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We proposed various evolutionary strategies suitable for the task and tested our choices using simulated data drawn from a given bio-realistic network of 35 nodes, the so-called insulin network, which has been used in the literature for benchmarking. We assessed the inferred models against this reference to obtain statistical performance results. We then compared performances of evolutionary algorithms using two kinds of recombination operators that operate at different scales in the graphs. We introduced a niching strategy that reinforces diversity through the population and avoided trapping of the algorithm in one local minimum in the early steps of learning. We show the limited effect of the mutation operator when niching is applied. Finally, we compared our best evolutionary approach with various well known learning algorithms (MCMC, K2, greedy search, TPDA, MMHC) devoted to BN structure learning.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We studied the behaviour of an evolutionary approach enhanced by niching for the learning of gene regulatory networks with BN. We show that this approach outperforms classical structure learning methods in elucidating the original model. These results were obtained for the learning of a bio-realistic network and, more importantly, on various small datasets. This is a suitable approach for learning transcriptional regulatory networks from real datasets without prior knowledge.</p
Quasi-Normal Modes of Stars and Black Holes
Perturbations of stars and black holes have been one of the main topics of
relativistic astrophysics for the last few decades. They are of particular
importance today, because of their relevance to gravitational wave astronomy.
In this review we present the theory of quasi-normal modes of compact objects
from both the mathematical and astrophysical points of view. The discussion
includes perturbations of black holes (Schwarzschild, Reissner-Nordstr\"om,
Kerr and Kerr-Newman) and relativistic stars (non-rotating and
slowly-rotating). The properties of the various families of quasi-normal modes
are described, and numerical techniques for calculating quasi-normal modes
reviewed. The successes, as well as the limits, of perturbation theory are
presented, and its role in the emerging era of numerical relativity and
supercomputers is discussed.Comment: 74 pages, 7 figures, Review article for "Living Reviews in
Relativity
Antimicrobial use in Swedish farrow-to-finish pig herds is related to farmer characteristics
Acute hospital admissions among nursing home residents: a population-based observational study
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nursing home residents are prone to acute illness due to their high age, underlying illnesses and immobility. We examined the incidence of acute hospital admissions among nursing home residents versus the age-matched community dwelling population in a geographically defined area during a two years period. The hospital stays of the nursing home population are described according to diagnosis, length of stay and mortality. Similar studies have previously not been reported in Scandinavia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The acute hospitalisations of the nursing home residents were identified through ambulance records. These were linked to hospital patient records for inclusion of demographics, diagnosis at discharge, length of stay and mortality. Incidence of hospitalisation was calculated based on patient-time at risk.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The annual hospital admission incidence was 0.62 admissions per person-year among the nursing home residents and 0.26 among the community dwellers. In the nursing home population we found that dominant diagnoses were respiratory diseases, falls-related and circulatory diseases, accounting for 55% of the cases. The median length of stay was 3 days (interquartile range = 4). The in-hospital mortality rate was 16% and 30 day mortality after discharge 30%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Acute hospital admission rate among nursing home residents was high in this Scandinavian setting. The pattern of diagnoses causing the admissions appears to be consistent with previous research. The in-hospital and 30 day mortality rates are high.</p
Consensus on circulatory shock and hemodynamic monitoring. Task force of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.
OBJECTIVE: Circulatory shock is a life-threatening syndrome resulting in multiorgan failure and a high mortality rate. The aim of this consensus is to provide support to the bedside clinician regarding the diagnosis, management and monitoring of shock.
METHODS: The European Society of Intensive Care Medicine invited 12 experts to form a Task Force to update a previous consensus (Antonelli et al.: Intensive Care Med 33:575-590, 2007). The same five questions addressed in the earlier consensus were used as the outline for the literature search and review, with the aim of the Task Force to produce statements based on the available literature and evidence. These questions were: (1) What are the epidemiologic and pathophysiologic features of shock in the intensive care unit ? (2) Should we monitor preload and fluid responsiveness in shock ? (3) How and when should we monitor stroke volume or cardiac output in shock ? (4) What markers of the regional and microcirculation can be monitored, and how can cellular function be assessed in shock ? (5) What is the evidence for using hemodynamic monitoring to direct therapy in shock ? Four types of statements were used: definition, recommendation, best practice and statement of fact.
RESULTS: Forty-four statements were made. The main new statements include: (1) statements on individualizing blood pressure targets; (2) statements on the assessment and prediction of fluid responsiveness; (3) statements on the use of echocardiography and hemodynamic monitoring.
CONCLUSIONS: This consensus provides 44 statements that can be used at the bedside to diagnose, treat and monitor patients with shock
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