1,133 research outputs found
A Unique Volume Balance Approach for Verifying the Three-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Numerical Models in Surface Waterbody Simulation
The hydrodynamic numerical modeling is increasingly becoming a widely used tool for simulating the surface waterbodies including rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. A challenging step in any model development is the verification tests, especially at the early stage of development. In this study, a unique approach was developed by implementing the volume balance principle in order to verify the three-dimensional hydrodynamic models for surface waterbody simulation. A developed and verified three-dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality model, called W3, was employed by setting a case study model to be verified using the volume balance technique. The model was qualified by calculating the error in the accumulated water volume within the domain every time step. Results showed that the volume balance reached a constant error over the simulation period, indicating a robust model setup
A prova de exercício cárdio-pulmonar e o prognóstico cirúrgico do cancro do pulmão
Resumo: Os autores procuram dar mais um contributo para a avaliação pré-operatória dos doentes com carcinoma de não pequenas células que vão ser sujeitos a cirurgia de ressecção pulmonar.Trata-se de um estudo prospectivo onde foi avaliado o resultado da cirurgia em termos de complicações ocorridas nos 30 dias a seguir à operação. Os autores definiram cada uma das complicações (óbito, enfarte do miocárdio, insuficiências respiratória, cardÃaca e renal, embolia pulmonar, pneumonia e septicemia) e ainda analisaram 3 dessas complicações em separado (óbito, enfarte do miocárdio e insuficiência respiratória), as quais designaram por âfraco resultadoâ.Antes da cirurgia, foram avaliados 99 doentes (34 pneumectomias, 56 lobectomias, 6 bilobectomias e 3 ressecções atÃpicas) com espirometria (FEV1 em litros) e consumo de oxigénio no exercÃcio máximo (VO2peak). Só 26 doentes tinham valores funcionais considerados borderline (FEV1 < 1,5 litros para lobectomia e < 2,0 litros para pneumectomia). Nos resultados apresentados observámos os seguintes valores médios: FEV1=2,06 litros; FEV1=80,4% do valor teórico; VO2peak=18,8 ml/kg/min ou 88,3% do valor teórico. Só existiram 4 óbitos (4%) e 21 doentes tiveram uma ou mais das complicações referenciadas.Os autores não encontraram relação significativa entre as complicações pós-operatórias e o FEV1 em litros. Verificaram ainda que o VO2peak em percentagem do valor teórico previa melhor um âfraco resultadoâ do que o mesmo parâmetro em valor absoluto.Em relação aos óbitos, um dos doentes tinha sido submetido a quimioterapia, o que dificultou a avaliação do desfecho. Nos restantes 3 óbitos, todos os doentes tinham um VO2peak < 62% do valor teórico. Dois dos 3 doentes com VO2peak < 50% tiveram um âfraco resultadoâ. Com VO2peak > 75% só 3 em 20 doentes é que tiveram um âfraco resultadoâ.Apesar de reconhecerem a necessidade de mais e maiores estudos, os autores concluem que VO2peak é importante para prever complicações como óbito, enfarte do miocárdio ou insuficiência respiratória, principalmente se é referido em percentagem do valor teórico. O limite âseguroâ situar-se-ia entre 50 e 60% do valor previsto
Disease-specific, neurosphere-derived cells as models for brain disorders
There is a pressing need for patient-derived cell models of brain diseases that are relevant and robust enough to produce the large quantities of cells required for molecular and functional analyses. We describe here a new cell model based on patient-derived cells from the human olfactory mucosa, the organ of smell, which regenerates throughout life from neural stem cells. Olfactory mucosa biopsies were obtained from healthy controls and patients with either schizophrenia, a neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorder, or Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disease. Biopsies were dissociated and grown as neurospheres in defined medium. Neurosphere-derived cell lines were grown in serum-containing medium as adherent monolayers and stored frozen. By comparing 42 patient and control cell lines we demonstrated significant disease-specific alterations in gene expression, protein expression and cell function, including dysregulated neurodevelopmental pathways in schizophrenia and dysregulated mitochondrial function, oxidative stress and xenobiotic metabolism in Parkinson's disease. The study has identified new candidate genes and cell pathways for future investigation. Fibroblasts from schizophrenia patients did not show these differences. Olfactory neurosphere-derived cells have many advantages over embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells as models for brain diseases. They do not require genetic reprogramming and they can be obtained from adults with complex genetic diseases. They will be useful for understanding disease aetiology, for diagnostics and for drug discovery
The Self Model and the Conception of Biological Identity in Immunology
The self/non-self model, first proposed by F.M. Burnet, has dominated immunology for sixty years now. According to this model, any foreign element will trigger an immune reaction in an organism, whereas endogenous elements will not, in normal circumstances, induce an immune reaction. In this paper we show that the self/non-self model is no longer an appropriate explanation of experimental data in immunology, and that this inadequacy may be rooted in an excessively strong metaphysical conception of biological identity. We suggest that another hypothesis, one based on the notion of continuity, gives a better account of immune phenomena. Finally, we underscore the mapping between this metaphysical deflation from self to continuity in immunology and the philosophical debate between substantialism and empiricism about identity
Interplay of structural and electronic phase separation in single crystalline La(2)CuO(4.05) studied by neutron and Raman scattering
We report a neutron and Raman scattering study of a single-crystal of
La(2)CuO(4.05) prepared by high temperature electrochemical oxidation. Elastic
neutron scattering measurements show the presence of two phases, corresponding
to the two edges of the first miscibility gap, all the way up to 300 K. An
additional oxygen redistribution, driven by electronic energies, is identified
at 250 K in Raman scattering (RS) experiments by the simultaneous onset of
two-phonon and two-magnon scattering, which are fingerprints of the insulating
phase. Elastic neutron scattering measurements show directly an
antiferromagnetic ordering below a N\'eel temperature of T_N =210K. The opening
of the superconducting gap manifests itself as a redistribution of electronic
Raman scattering below the superconducting transition temperature, T_c = 24K. A
pronounced temperature-dependent suppression of the intensity of the (100)
magnetic Bragg peak has been detected below T_c. We ascribe this phenomenon to
a change of relative volume fraction of superconducting and antiferromagnetic
phases with decreasing temperature caused by a form of a superconducting
proximity effect.Comment: 9 pages, including 9 eps figures, submitted to PR
Crossover and scaling in a nearly antiferromagnetic Fermi liquid in two dimensions
We consider two-dimensional Fermi liquids in the vicinity of a quantum
transition to a phase with commensurate, antiferromagnetic long-range order.
Depending upon the Fermi surface topology, mean-field spin-density-wave theory
predicts two different types of such transitions, with mean-field dynamic
critical exponents (when the Fermi surface does not cross the magnetic
zone boundary, type ) and (when the Fermi surface crosses the magnetic
zone boundary, type ). The type system only displays behavior at
all energies and its scaling properties are similar (though not identical) to
those of an insulating Heisenberg antiferromagnet. Under suitable conditions
precisely stated in this paper, the type system displays a crossover from
relaxational behavior at low energies to type behavior at high energies. A
scaling hypothesis is proposed to describe this crossover: we postulate a
universal scaling function which determines the entire, temperature-,
wavevector-, and frequency-dependent, dynamic, staggered spin susceptibility in
terms of 4 measurable, , parameters (determining the distance, energy, and
order parameter scales, plus one crossover parameter). The scaling function
contains the full scaling behavior in all regimes for both type and
systems. The crossover behavior of the uniform susceptibility and the specific
heat is somewhat more complicated and is also discussed. Explicit computation
of the crossover functions is carried out in a large expansion on a
mean-field model. Some new results for the critical properties on the ordered
side of the transition are also obtained in a spin-density wave formalism. The
possible relevance of our results to the doped cuprate compounds is briefly
discussed.Comment: 20 pages, REVTeX, 6 figures (uuencoded compressed PostScript file for
figures is appended
Thermodynamic properties of excess-oxygen-doped La2CuO4.11 near a simultaneous transition to superconductivity and long-range magnetic order
We have measured the specific heat and magnetization {\it versus} temperature
in a single crystal sample of superconducting LaCuO and in a
sample of the same material after removing the excess oxygen, in magnetic
fields up to 15 T. Using the deoxygenated sample to subtract the phonon
contribution, we find a broad peak in the specific heat, centered at 50 K. This
excess specific heat is attributed to fluctuations of the Cu spins possibly
enhanced by an interplay with the charge degrees of freedom, and appears to be
independent of magnetic field, up to 15 T. Near the superconducting transition
(=0)= 43 K, we find a sharp feature that is strongly suppressed when
the magnetic field is applied parallel to the crystallographic c-axis. A model
for 3D vortex fluctuations is used to scale magnetization measured at several
magnetic fields. When the magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the
c-axis, the only observed effect is a slight shift in the superconducting
transition temperature.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Parity-violating Electron Deuteron Scattering and the Proton's Neutral Weak Axial Vector Form Factor
We report on a new measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in
quasielastic electron scattering from the deuteron at backward angles at Q2=
0.038 (GeV/c)2. This quantity provides a determination of the neutral weak
axial vector form factor of the nucleon, which can potentially receive large
electroweak corrections. The measured asymmetry A=-3.51 +/- 0.57(stat) +/-
0.58(sys)ppm is consistent with theoretical predictions. We also report on
updated results of the previous experiment at Q2=0.091 (GeV/c)2, which are also
consistent with theoretical predictions.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Radiographer involvement in mammography image interpretation: a survey of United Kingdom practice
Breast cancer is most often diagnosed using x-ray mammography. Traditionally mammography images have been interpreted and reported by medically qualified practitioners - radiologists. Due to radiologist workforce shortages in recent years some nonmedical practitioners, radiographers, now interpret and report mammography images. The aims of this survey were to describe the characteristics and practices of radiographers who interpret and report mammography images in NHS hospitals in the UK, and in particular to establish the extent of their practice beyond low-risk asymptomatic screening cases. This service evaluation demonstrated that UK radiographers are interpreting and reporting images across the full spectrum of clinical indications for mammography including: low-risk population screening, symptomatic, annual surveillance, family history and biopsy / surgical cases. The survey revealed that radiographers are involved in a diverse range of single and double reading practices where responsibility for diagnostic decision making is shared or transferred between radiologists and / or other radiographers. Comparative analysis of subgroup data suggested that there might be differences in the characteristics and practices of radiographers who interpret only low-risk screening mammograms and those who interpret and report a wider range of cases. The findings of this survey provide a platform for further research to investigate how and why the roles and responsibilities of radiographers who interpret and report mammograms vary between organisations, between practitioners and across different examinations. Further research is also needed to explore the implications of variation in practice for patients, practitioners and service providers
Surveying Standard Model Flux Vacua on
We consider the SU(2)LxSU(2)R Standard Model brane embedding in an
orientifold of T6/Z2xZ2. Within defined limits, we construct all such Standard
Model brane embeddings and determine the relative number of flux vacua for each
construction. Supersymmetry preserving brane recombination in the hidden sector
enables us to identify many solutions with high flux. We discuss in detail the
phenomenology of one model which is likely to dominate the counting of vacua.
While Kahler moduli stabilization remains to be fully understood, we define the
criteria necessary for generic constructions to have fixed moduli.Comment: 30 pages, LaTeX, v2: added reference
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