8,797 research outputs found
Cs-Induced Surface State on GaAs(110)
Cesium adsorption on GaAs(110) has been studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy at room temperature in the submonolayer-coverage regime. We report the observation of a Cs-induced surface state in the vicinity of the surface-Brillouin-zone edge. The possible origin of the state is discussed in relation to recent structural observations. The onset of the Cs-induced surface state can be correlated with the appearance of a second Cs 5p core-level emission feature at âŒ0.2 monolayer Cs coverage
An international study on psychological coping during COVID-19: Towards a meaning-centered coping style
Association of metabolic syndrome and change in Unified Parkinson\u27s Disease Rating Scale scores.
OBJECTIVE: To explore the association between metabolic syndrome and the Unified Parkinson\u27s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) scores and, secondarily, the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT).
METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of data from 1,022 of 1,741 participants of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Exploratory Clinical Trials in Parkinson Disease Long-Term Study 1, a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of creatine. Participants were categorized as having or not having metabolic syndrome on the basis of modified criteria from the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. Those who had the same metabolic syndrome status at consecutive annual visits were included. The change in UPDRS and SDMT scores from randomization to 3 years was compared in participants with and without metabolic syndrome.
RESULTS: Participants with metabolic syndrome (n = 396) compared to those without (n = 626) were older (mean [SD] 63.9 [8.1] vs 59.9 [9.4] years; p \u3c 0.0001), were more likely to be male (75.3% vs 57.0%; p \u3c 0.0001), and had a higher mean uric acid level (men 5.7 [1.3] vs 5.3 [1.1] mg/dL, women 4.9 [1.3] vs 3.9 [0.9] mg/dL, p \u3c 0.0001). Participants with metabolic syndrome experienced an additional 0.6- (0.2) unit annual increase in total UPDRS (p = 0.02) and 0.5- (0.2) unit increase in motor UPDRS (p = 0.01) scores compared with participants without metabolic syndrome. There was no difference in the change in SDMT scores.
CONCLUSIONS: Persons with Parkinson disease meeting modified criteria for metabolic syndrome experienced a greater increase in total UPDRS scores over time, mainly as a result of increases in motor scores, compared to those who did not. Further studies are needed to confirm this finding.
CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: NCT00449865
Low Temperature Opacities
Previous computations of low temperature Rosseland and Planck mean opacities
from Alexander & Ferguson (1994) are updated and expanded. The new computations
include a more complete equation of state with more grain species and updated
optical constants. Grains are now explicitly included in thermal equilibrium in
the equation of state calculation, which allows for a much wider range of grain
compositions to be accurately included than was previously the case. The
inclusion of high temperature condensates such as AlO and CaTiO
significantly affects the total opacity over a narrow range of temperatures
before the appearance of the first silicate grains.
The new opacity tables are tabulated for temperatures ranging from 30000 K to
500 K with gas densities from 10 g cm to 10 g cm.
Comparisons with previous Rosseland mean opacity calculations are discussed. At
high temperatures, the agreement with OPAL and Opacity Project is quite good.
Comparisons at lower temperatures are more divergent as a result of differences
in molecular and grain physics included in different calculations. The
computation of Planck mean opacities performed with the opacity sampling method
are shown to require a very large number of opacity sampling wavelength points;
previously published results obtained with fewer wavelength points are shown to
be significantly in error. Methods for requesting or obtaining the new tables
are provided.Comment: 39 pages with 12 figures. To be published in ApJ, April 200
Treatment with Methylphenidate for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and the Risk of All-Cause Poisoning in Children and Adolescents:A Self-Controlled Case Series Study
BACKGROUND: Children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at higher risk of all-cause poisoning by drugs and chemicals (intentional or accidental). Currently, there is limited data on whether medication treatment for ADHD can reduce the risk of all-cause poisoning. METHODS: Patients aged 5â18 years with a methylphenidate (MPH) prescription and an incident poisoning diagnosis between January 2001 and June 2020 were identified from the Hong Kong Clinical Data Analysis and Reporting System. A self-controlled case series study design was used to compare the incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of all-cause poisoning during different risk windows (30 days before the first MPH prescription, exposure periods within 30 days of the first prescription, and periods of subsequent exposure) compared with the reference window (other non-exposure periods). RESULTS: 42,203 patients were prescribed ADHD medication in Hong Kong during the study period. Of these, 417 patients who had both an MPH prescription and poisoning incident recorded were included in the main analysis. Compared with other non-exposed periods, a higher risk of poisoning was found in the 30 days before the first prescription (IRR 2.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.33â5.22) and exposure periods within 30 days of the first prescription (IRR 2.18, 95% CI 1.06â4.48), but not during prolonged exposure. However, compared with 30 days before the first prescription as well as exposure periods within 30 days of the first prescription, there was a lower risk during the subsequent exposure (IRRs 0.49 and 0.60, respectively). Similar results to the main analysis were also found in the subgroup analysis of intentional poisoning and females, but not in that of accidental poisoning and males. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of all-cause poisoning was higher shortly before and after the first MPH prescription and became lower during the subsequent prescription period. Our results do not support an association between the use of MPH and an increased risk of all-cause poisoning in children and adolescents and, in fact, suggest that longer-term use of MPH may be associated with a lower risk of all-cause poisoning, although this latter finding requires further study. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40263-021-00824-x
A Longitudinal Study of the Relation between Childhood Activities and Psychosocial Adjustment in Early Adolescence
Background: Although an increasing body of research shows that excessive screen time could impair brain development, whereas non-screen recreational activities can promote the development of adaptive emotion regulation and social skills, there is a lack of comparative research on this topic. Hence, this study examined whether and to what extent the frequency of early-life activities predicted later externalizing and internalizing problems. Methods: In 2012/13, we recruited Kindergarten 3 (K3) students from randomly selected kindergartens in two districts of Hong Kong and collected parent-report data on childrenâs screen activities and parentâchild activities. In 2018/19, we re-surveyed the parents of 323 students (aged 11 to 13 years) with question items regarding their childrenâs externalizing and internalizing symptoms in early adolescence. Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations between childhood activities and psychosocial problems in early adolescence. Results: Early-life parentâchild activities (ÎČ = â0.14, p = 0.012) and child-alone screen use duration (ÎČ = 0.15, p = 0.007) independently predicted externalizing problems in early adolescence. Their associations with video game exposure (ÎČ = 0.19, p = 0.004) and non-screen recreational parentâchild activities (ÎČ = â0.14, p = 0.004) were particularly strong. Conclusions: Parentâchild play time is important for healthy psychosocial development. More efforts should be directed to urge parents and caregivers to replace child-alone screen time with parentâchild play time
Three routes to the exact asymptotics for the one-dimensional quantum walk
We demonstrate an alternative method for calculating the asymptotic behaviour
of the discrete one-coin quantum walk on the infinite line, via the Jacobi
polynomials that arise in the path integral representation. This is
significantly easier to use than the Darboux method. It also provides a single
integral representation for the wavefunction that works over the full range of
positions, including throughout the transitional range where the behaviour
changes from oscillatory to exponential. Previous analyses of this system have
run into difficulties in the transitional range, because the approximations on
which they were based break down here. The fact that there are two different
kinds of approach to this problem (Path Integral vs. Schr\"{o}dinger wave
mechanics) is ultimately a manifestation of the equivalence between the
path-integral formulation of quantum mechanics and the original formulation
developed in the 1920s. We discuss how and why our approach is related to the
two methods that have already been used to analyse these systems.Comment: 25 pages, AMS preprint format, 4 figures as encapsulated postscript.
Replaced because there were sign errors in equations (80) & (85) and Lemma 2
of the journal version (v3
Metal-Insulator Transitions in Degenerate Hubbard Models and AC
Mott-Hubbard metal-insulator transitions in -fold degenerate Hubbard
models are studied within the Gutzwiller approximation. For any rational
filling with (integer) electrons per site it is found that metal-insulator
transition occurs at a critical correlation energy
, where
is the band energy per particle for the uncorrelated Fermi-liquid state and
is a geometric factor which increases linearly with . We
propose that the alkali metal doped fullerides can be described by
a 3-fold degenerate Hubbard model. Using the current estimate of band width and
correlation energy this implies that most of , at integer ,
are Mott-Hubbard insulators and is a strongly correlated
metal.Comment: 10 pages, Revte
Novel Catalysts and Processing Technologies for Production of Aerospace Fuels from Non-Petroleum Raw Materials
Transportation fuels production (including aerospace propellants) from non-traditional sources (gases, waste materials, and biomass) has been an active area of research and development for decades. Reducing terrestrial waste streams simultaneous with energy conversion, plentiful biomass, new low-cost methane sources, and/or extra-terrestrial resource harvesting and utilization present significant technological and business opportunities being realized by a new generation of visionary entrepreneurs. We examine several new approaches to catalyst fabrication and new processing technologies to enable utilization of these nontraditional raw materials. Two basic processing architectures are considered: a single-stage pyrolysis approach that seeks to basically re-cycle hydrocarbons with minimal net chemistry or a two-step paradigm that involves production of supply or synthesis gas (mainly carbon oxides and H2) followed by production of fuel(s) via Sabatier or methanation reactions and/or Fischer-Trpsch synthesis. Optimizing the fraction of product stream relevant to targeted aerospace (and other transportation) fuels via modeling, catalyst fabrication and novel reactor design are described. Energy utilization is a concern for production of fuels for either terrestrial or space operations; renewable sources based on solar energy and/or energy efficient processes may be mission enabling. Another important issue is minimizing impurities in the product stream(s), especially those potentially posing risks to personnel or operations through (catalyst) poisoning or (equipment) damage. Technologies being developed to remove (and/or recycle) heteroatom impurities are briefly discussed as well as the development of chemically robust catalysts whose activities are not diminished during operation. The potential impacts on future missions by such new approaches as well as balance of system issues are addressed
Magnetic Catalysis in AdS4
We study the formation of fermion condensates in Anti de Sitter space. In
particular, we describe a novel version of magnetic catalysis that arises for
fermions in asymptotically AdS4 geometries which cap off in the infra-red with
a hard wall. We show that the presence of a magnetic field induces a fermion
condensate in the bulk that spontaneously breaks CP symmetry. From the
perspective of the dual boundary theory, this corresponds to a strongly coupled
version of magnetic catalysis in d=2+1.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figures. v2: References added, factors of 2 corrected,
extra comments added in appendix. v3: extra comments about fermion modes in a
hard wall background. v4: A final factor of
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