376 research outputs found
Measurements of interactions between acoustic fields and nonuniform mean flow
Two problems crucial to the stability of longitudinal acoustic waves in solid rocket motors are examined experimentally. The first is the dissipation of energy associated with an average flow inward at the lateral boundary. Measurements reported here, though subject to considerable experimental error, show that the actual
losses are much larger than predicted by the approximate one dimensional analysis. The second problem is the attenuation of waves accompanying reflection by the nonuniform flow in a choked exhaust nozzle. Empahsis in this work has been on technique, to provide data relatively easily and inexpensively. It appears that good results can be obtained in a routine manner using small supersonic wind tunnel operated as an open cycle. At least for Mach
numbers up to 0.04 at the nozzle entrance, difficulties with signal/noise are satisfactorily overcome with a tracking filter
Summit Report: Freedom of the Press in the Twenty-First Century – An Agenda for Thought and Action - Panel IV: The Future of the Press and Secrecy
Nanoparticle-encapsulated chlorhexidine against oral bacterial biofilms
Background: Chlorhexidine (CHX) is a widely used antimicrobial agent in dentistry. Herein, we report the synthesis of a novel mesoporous silica nanoparticle-encapsulated pure CHX (Nano-CHX), and its mechanical profile and antimicrobial properties against oral biofilms.
Methodology/Principal Findings: The release of CHX from the Nano-CHX was characterized by UV/visible absorption spectroscopy. The antimicrobial properties of Nano-CHX were evaluated in both planktonic and biofilm modes of representative oral pathogenic bacteria. The Nano-CHX demonstrated potent antibacterial effects on planktonic bacteria and mono-species biofilms at the concentrations of 50-200 mu g/mL against Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sobrinus, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Enterococccus faecalis. Moreover, Nano-CHX effectively suppressed multi-species biofilms such as S. mutans, F. nucleatum, A. actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis up to 72 h.
Conclusions/Significance: This pioneering study demonstrates the potent antibacterial effects of the Nano-CHX on oral biofilms, and it may be developed as a novel and promising anti-biofilm agent for clinical use.published_or_final_versio
Early administration of oral oseltamivir increases the benefits of influenza treatment
Our objective was to evaluate the benefit of early treatment of influenza illness using oral oseltamivir. This open-label, multicentre international study investigated the relationship between the interval from illness onset to first dose (time-to-treatment) and illness duration in the intent-to-treat infected population using accelerated failure time (AFT) modelling. A total of 1426 patients (12-70 years) presenting within 48 h of the onset of influenza symptoms were treated with oseltamivir 75 mg twice a day for 5 days during the 1999-2000 influenza season; 958 (67%) had laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infection. Earlier intervention was associated with shorter illness duration (P < 0.0001). Initiation of therapy within the first 12 h after fever onset reduced the total median illness duration by 74.6 h (3.1 days; 41%) more than intervention at 48 h. Intermediate interventions reduced the illness proportionately compared with 48 h. In addition, the earlier administration of oseltamivir further reduced the duration of fever, severity of symptoms and the times to return to baseline activity and health scores. Oseltamivir was well tolerated. The most common adverse events were nausea and vomiting, which were transient and generally occurred only with first dosing. When oseltamivir was taken with food, the tolerability was enhanced. The overall discontinuation rate was low (1.8%). In conclusion, the IMPACT study demonstrated that earlier initiation of oral oseltamivir therapy increased its therapeutic effects, which were seen at every time point of intervention and were progressive. Thus, early presentation, diagnosis and treatment of patients with influenza maximized the benefits of oseltamivir therap
Classical Monopoles: Newton, NUT-space, gravomagnetic lensing and atomic spectra
Stimulated by a scholium in Newton's Principia we find some beautiful results
in classical mechanics which can be interpreted in terms of the orbits in the
field of a mass endowed with a gravomagnetic monopole. All the orbits lie on
cones! When the cones are slit open and flattened the orbits are exactly the
ellipses and hyperbolae that one would have obtained without the gravomagnetic
monopole.
The beauty and simplicity of these results has led us to explore the similar
problems in Atomic Physics when the nuclei have an added Dirac magnetic
monopole. These problems have been explored by others and we sketch the
derivations and give details of the predicted spectrum of monopolar hydrogen.
Finally we return to gravomagnetic monopoles in general relativity. We
explain why NUT space has a non-spherical metric although NUT space itself is
the spherical space-time of a mass with a gravomagnetic monopole. We
demonstrate that all geodesics in NUT space lie on cones and use this result to
study the gravitational lensing by bodies with gravomagnetic monopoles.
We remark that just as electromagnetism would have to be extended beyond
Maxwell's equations to allow for magnetic monopoles and their currents so
general relativity would have to be extended to allow torsion for general
distributions of gravomagnetic monopoles and their currents. Of course if
monopoles were never discovered then it would be a triumph for both Maxwellian
Electromagnetism and General Relativity as they stand!Comment: 39 pages, 9 figures and 2 tables available on request from the
author
Understanding Work Practices of Autonomous Agile Teams: A Social-psychological Review
The purpose of this paper is to suggest additional aspects of social
psychology that could help when making sense of autonomous agile teams. To make
use of well-tested theories in social psychology and instead see how they
replicated and differ in the autonomous agile team context would avoid
reinventing the wheel. This was done, as an initial step, through looking at
some very common agile practices and relate them to existing findings in
social-psychological research. The two theories found that I argue could be
more applied to the software engineering context are social identity theory and
group socialization theory. The results show that literature provides
social-psychological reasons for the popularity of some agile practices, but
that scientific studies are needed to gather empirical evidence on these
under-researched topics. Understanding deeper psychological theories could
provide a better understanding of the psychological processes when building
autonomous agile team, which could then lead to better predictability and
intervention in relation to human factors
Acceptability of Carraguard Vaginal Microbicide Gel among HIV-Infected Women in Chiang Rai, Thailand
Background: Few studies of microbicide acceptability among HIV-infected women have been done. We assessed CarraguardH vaginal gel acceptability among participants in a randomized, controlled, crossover safety trial in HIV-infected women in Thailand. Methodology/Principal Findings: Participants used each of 3 treatments (Carraguard gel, methylcellulose placebo gel, and no product) for 7 days, were randomized to one of six treatment sequences, and were blinded to the type of gel they received in the two gel-use periods. After both gel-use periods, acceptability was assessed by face-to-face interview. Responses were compared to those of women participating in two previous Carraguard safety studies at the same study site. Sixty women enrolled with a median age of 34 years; 25 % were sexually active. Self-reported adherence (98%) and overall satisfaction rating of the gels (87% liked ‘‘somewhat’ ’ or ‘‘very much’’) were high, and most (77%) considered the volume of gel ‘‘just right.’ ’ For most characteristics, crossover trial participants evaluated the gels more favorably than women in the other two trials, but there were few differences in the desired characteristics of a hypothetical microbicide. Almost half (48%) of crossover trial participants noticed a difference between Carraguard and placebo gels; 33 % preferred Carraguard while 12 % preferred placebo (p=0.01). Conclusions/Significance: Daily Carraguard vaginal gel use was highly acceptable in this population of HIV-infecte
The KCNJ11 E23K Polymorphism and Progression of Glycaemia in Southern Chinese: A Long-Term Prospective Study
Context: The KCNJ11 E23K variant is associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in cross-sectional studies, but conflicting findings have been reported from prospective studies. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether the E23K variant could predict glycaemic progression in a Southern Chinese population. Methods/Principal Findings: We performed a long-term prospective study on 1912 subjects from the Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factors Prevalence Study (CRISPS). The KCNJ11 E23K variant was associated with the progression to prediabetes after a median interval of 12 years on multinomial logistic regression analysis, even after adjustment for traditional risk factors (OR 1.29, P age, sex, BMI and fasting plasma glucose [FPG] adjusted = 0.02). Based on Cox proportional hazard regression analysis, the E23K variant also predicted incident prediabetes (HR 1.18, P age, sex, BMI and FPG adjusted = 0.021). However, E23K was not associated with the progression to T2DM in either multinomial or Cox regression analysis, and the association of E23K with glycaemic progression to either prediabetes or T2DM was significant only in unadjusted Cox regression analysis (P = 0.039). In a meta-analysis of eight prospective studies including our own, involving 15680 subjects, the E23K variant was associated with incident T2DM (fixed effect: OR 1.10, P = 4×10 -3; random effect: OR 1.11, P = 0.035). Conclusions: Our study has provided supporting evidence for the role of the E23K variant in glycaemic progression in Chinese, with its effect being more evident in the early stage of T2DM, as the subjects progressed from normal glucose tolerance to prediabetes. © 2011 Cheung et al.published_or_final_versio
Search for effective Lorentz and CPT violation using ZEUS data
Lorentz and CPT symmetry in the quark sector of the Standard Model are studied in the context of an effective field theory using ZEUS e±p data. Symmetry-violating effects can lead to time-dependent oscillations of otherwise time-independent observables, including scattering cross sections. An analysis using five years of inclusive neutral-current deep inelastic scattering events corresponding to an integrated HERA luminosity of 372 pb-1 at s=318 GeV has been performed. No evidence for oscillations in sidereal time has been observed within statistical and systematic uncertainties. Constraints, most for the first time, are placed on 42 coefficients parametrizing dominant CPT-even dimension-four and CPT-odd dimension-five spin-independent modifications to the propagation and interaction of light quarks
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