424 research outputs found
Posterior cricoid region fluoroscopic findings: the posterior cricoid plication.
The region posterior to the cricoid cartilage is challenging to assess fluoroscopically. The purpose of this investigation is to critically evaluate the posterior cricoid (PC) region on fluoroscopy and describe patterns of common findings. This was a case control study. All fluoroscopic swallowing studies performed between June 16, 2009, and February 9, 2010, were reviewed for features seen in the PC region. These findings were categorized into distinct patterns and compared to fluoroscopic studies performed in a cohort of normal volunteers. Two hundred patient studies and 149 healthy volunteer studies were reviewed. The mean age of the referred patient cohort and the volunteer cohort was 57 years (±19) and 61 years (±16), respectively (p > 0.05). The patient cohort was 53% male and the control cohort was 56% female (p > 0.05). Four groups were identified. Pharyngoesophageal webs were seen in 7% (10/149) of controls and 14% (28/200) of patients (p = 0.03). A PC arch impression was seen in 16% of patients (32/200) and controls (24/149) (p = 1). A PC plication was demonstrated in 23% (34/149) of controls and 30% (60/200) of patients (p = 0.13). No distinctive PC region findings were seen in 54% (81/149) of controls and 42% (84/200) of referred patients (p = 0.02). Four patients (2%) had both a web and a PC plication. Four categories of PC region findings were identified (unremarkable PC region, web, PC arch impression, and PC plication). Both patients referred for swallowing studies and healthy volunteers demonstrated esophageal webs, PC arch impressions, and PC plications. Only webs were more common in patients than in control subjects (p = 0.03). The PC impression and PC plication are likely to represent normal variants that may be identified on fluoroscopic swallow studies
Faith in the Republic: A Frances Lewis Law Center Conversation
This is a spontaneous conversation discussing Hauserwas’ singular political theology in response to Levinson and Tushnet’s constitutional jurisprudence. It developed into a highly interesting debate concerning constitutional faith. This conversation was recorded at Washington and Lee’s Law Center on December 11, 1987
Faith in the Republic: A Frances Lewis Law Center Conversation
This is a spontaneous conversation discussing Hauserwas’ singular political theology in response to Levinson and Tushnet’s constitutional jurisprudence. It developed into a highly interesting debate concerning constitutional faith. This conversation was recorded at Washington and Lee’s Law Center on December 11, 1987
Correct quantum chemistry in a minimal basis from effective Hamiltonians
We describe how to create ab-initio effective Hamiltonians that qualitatively
describe correct chemistry even when used with a minimal basis. The
Hamiltonians are obtained by folding correlation down from a large parent basis
into a small, or minimal, target basis, using the machinery of canonical
transformations. We demonstrate the quality of these effective Hamiltonians to
correctly capture a wide range of excited states in water, nitrogen, and
ethylene, and to describe ground and excited state bond-breaking in nitrogen
and the chromium dimer, all in small or minimal basis sets
Statistical characteristics of formation and evolution of structure in the universe
An approximate statistical description of the formation and evolution of
structure of the universe based on the Zel'dovich theory of gravitational
instability is proposed. It is found that the evolution of DM structure shows
features of self-similarity and the main structure characteristics can be
expressed through the parameters of initial power spectrum and cosmological
model. For the CDM-like power spectrum and suitable parameters of the
cosmological model the effective matter compression reaches the observed scales
20 -- 25Mpc with the typical mean separation of
wall-like elements 50 -- 70Mpc. This description can be
directly applied to the deep pencil beam galactic surveys and absorption
spectra of quasars. For larger 3D catalogs and simulations it can be applied to
results obtained with the core-sampling analysis.
It is shown that the interaction of large and small scale perturbations
modulates the creation rate of early Zel'dovich pancakes and generates bias on
the SLSS scale. For suitable parameters of the cosmological model and reheating
process this bias can essentially improve the characteristics of simulated
structure of the universe.
The models with give the best description of the
observed structure parameters. The influence of low mass "warm" dark matter
particles, such as a massive neutrino, will extend the acceptable range of
and .Comment: 20pages, 7 figures, MNRAS in pres
A Search for Jet Handedness in Hadronic Decays
We have searched for signatures of polarization in hadronic jets from decays using the ``jet handedness'' method. The polar angle
asymmetry induced by the high SLC electron-beam polarization was used to
separate quark jets from antiquark jets, expected to be left- and
right-polarized, respectively. We find no evidence for jet handedness in our
global sample or in a sample of light quark jets and we set upper limits at the
95% C.L. of 0.063 and 0.099 respectively on the magnitude of the analyzing
power of the method proposed by Efremov {\it et al.}Comment: Revtex, 8 pages, 2 figure
Long-term trends in survival of a declining population: the case of the little owl (Athene noctua) in the Netherlands
The little owl (Athene noctua) has declined significantly in many parts of Europe, including the Netherlands. To understand the demographic mechanisms underlying their decline, we analysed all available Dutch little owl ringing data. The data set spanned 35 years, and included more than 24,000 ringed owls, allowing detailed estimation of survival rates through multi-state capture–recapture modelling taking dispersal into account. We investigated geographical and temporal variation in age-specific survival rates and linked annual survival estimates to population growth rate in corresponding years, as well as to environmental covariates. The best model for estimating survival assumed time effects on both juvenile and adult survival rates, with average annual survival estimated at 0.258 (SE = 0.047) and 0.753 (SE = 0.019), respectively. Juvenile survival rates decreased with time whereas adult survival rates fluctuated regularly among years, low survival occurring about every 4 years. Years when the population declined were associated with low juvenile survival. More than 60% of the variation in juvenile survival was explained by the increase in road traffic intensity or in average temperature in spring, but these correlations rather reflect a gradual decrease in juvenile survival coinciding with long-term global change than direct causal effects. Surprisingly, vole dynamics did not explain the cyclic dynamics of adult survival rate. Instead, dry and cold years led to low adult survival rates. Low juvenile survival rates, that limit recruitment of first-year breeders, and the regular occurrence of years with poor adult survival, were the most important determinants of the population decline of the little owl
Long-term trends in survival of a declining population: the case of the little owl (Athene noctua) in the Netherlands
The little owl (Athene noctua) has declined significantly in many parts of Europe, including the Netherlands. To understand the demographic mechanisms underlying their decline, we analysed all available Dutch little owl ringing data. The data set spanned 35 years, and included more than 24,000 ringed owls, allowing detailed estimation of survival rates through multi-state capture–recapture modelling taking dispersal into account. We investigated geographical and temporal variation in age-specific survival rates and linked annual survival estimates to population growth rate in corresponding years, as well as to environmental covariates. The best model for estimating survival assumed time effects on both juvenile and adult survival rates, with average annual survival estimated at 0.258 (SE = 0.047) and 0.753 (SE = 0.019), respectively. Juvenile survival rates decreased with time whereas adult survival rates fluctuated regularly among years, low survival occurring about every 4 years. Years when the population declined were associated with low juvenile survival. More than 60% of the variation in juvenile survival was explained by the increase in road traffic intensity or in average temperature in spring, but these correlations rather reflect a gradual decrease in juvenile survival coinciding with long-term global change than direct causal effects. Surprisingly, vole dynamics did not explain the cyclic dynamics of adult survival rate. Instead, dry and cold years led to low adult survival rates. Low juvenile survival rates, that limit recruitment of first-year breeders, and the regular occurrence of years with poor adult survival, were the most important determinants of the population decline of the little owl
Measurement of the Charged Multiplicities in b, c and Light Quark Events from Z0 Decays
Average charged multiplicities have been measured separately in , and
light quark () events from decays measured in the SLD experiment.
Impact parameters of charged tracks were used to select enriched samples of
and light quark events, and reconstructed charmed mesons were used to select
quark events. We measured the charged multiplicities:
,
, from
which we derived the differences between the total average charged
multiplicities of or quark events and light quark events: and . We compared
these measurements with those at lower center-of-mass energies and with
perturbative QCD predictions. These combined results are in agreement with the
QCD expectations and disfavor the hypothesis of flavor-independent
fragmentation.Comment: 19 pages LaTex, 4 EPS figures, to appear in Physics Letters
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