2,894 research outputs found
Hmong Adults Self-Rated Oral Health: A Pilot Study
Since 1975, the Hmong refugee population in the U.S. has increased over 200%. However, little is known about their dental needs or self-rated oral health (SROH). The study aims were to: (1) describe the SROH, self-rated general health (SRGH), and use of dental/physician services; and (2) identify the factors associated with SROH among Hmong adults. A cross-sectional study design with locating sampling methodology was used. Oral health questionnaire was administered to assess SROH and SRGH, past dental and physician visits, and language preference. One hundred twenty adults aged 18–50+ were recruited and 118 had useable information. Of these, 49% rated their oral health as poor/fair and 30% rated their general health as poor/fair. Thirty-nine percent reported that they did not have a regular source of dental care, 46% rated their access to dental care as poor/fair, 43% visited a dentist and 66% visited a physician within the past 12 months. Bivariate analyses demonstrated that access to dental care, past dental visits, age and SRGH were significantly associated with SROH (P \u3c 0.05). Multivariate analyses demonstrated a strong association between access to dental care and good/excellent SROH. About half of Hmong adults rated their oral health and access to dental care as poor. Dental insurance, access to dental care, past preventive dental/physician visits and SRGH were associated with SROH
A semi-active H∞ control strategy with application to the vibration suppression of nonlinear high-rise building under earthquake excitations
Different from previous researches which mostly focused on linear response control of seismically excited high-rise buildings, this study aims to control nonlinear seismic response of high-rise buildings. To this end, a semi-active control strategy, in which H∞ control algorithm is used and magneto-rheological dampers are employed for an actuator, is presented to suppress the nonlinear vibration. In this strategy, a modified Kalman–Bucy observer which is suitable for the proposed semi-active strategy is developed to obtain the state vector from the measured semi-active control force and acceleration feedback, taking into account of the effects of nonlinearity, disturbance and uncertainty of controlled system parameters by the observed nonlinear accelerations. Then, the proposed semi-active H∞ control strategy is applied to the ASCE 20-story benchmark building when subjected to earthquake excitation and compared with the other control approaches by some control criteria. It is indicated that the proposed semi-active H∞ control strategy provides much better control performances by comparison with the semi-active MPC and Clipped-LQG control approaches, and can reduce nonlinear seismic response and minimize the damage in the buildings. Besides, it enhances the reliability of the control performance when compared with the active control strategy. Thus, the proposed semi-active H∞ control strategy is suitable for suppressing the nonlinear vibration of high-rise buildings
Noncommutative cosmological models coupled to a perfect fluid and a cosmological constant
In this work we carry out a noncommutative analysis of several
Friedmann-Robert-Walker models, coupled to different types of perfect fluids
and in the presence of a cosmological constant. The classical field equations
are modified, by the introduction of a shift operator, in order to introduce
noncommutativity in these models. We notice that the noncommutative versions of
these models show several relevant differences with respect to the
correspondent commutative ones.Comment: 27 pages. 7 figures. JHEP style.arXiv admin note: substantial text
overlap with arXiv:1104.481
Optical coherence tomography-based contact indentation for diaphragm mechanics in a mouse model of transforming growth factor alpha induced lung disease
This study tested the utility of optical coherence tomography (OCT)-based indentation to assess mechanical properties of respiratory tissues in disease. Using OCT-based indentation, the elastic modulus of mouse diaphragm was measured from changes in diaphragm thickness in response to an applied force provided by an indenter. We used a transgenic mouse model of chronic lung disease induced by the overexpression of transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-a), established by the presence of pleural and peribronchial fibrosis and impaired lung mechanics determined by the forced oscillation technique and plethysmography. Diaphragm elastic modulus assessed by OCT-based indentation was reduced by TGF-a at both left and right lateral locations (p < 0.05). Diaphragm elastic modulus at left and right lateral locations were correlated within mice (r = 0.67, p < 0.01) suggesting that measurements were representative of tissue beyond the indenter field. Co-localised images of diaphragm after TGF-a overexpression revealed a layered fibrotic appearance. Maximum diaphragm force in conventional organ bath studies was also reduced by TGF-a overexpression (p < 0.01). Results show that OCT-based indentation provided clear delineation of diseased diaphragm, and together with organ bath assessment, provides new evidence suggesting that TGF-a overexpression produces impairment in diaphragm function and, therefore, an increase in the work of breathing in chronic lung disease
Hot Streaks in Artistic, Cultural, and Scientific Careers
The hot streak, loosely defined as winning begets more winnings, highlights a
specific period during which an individual's performance is substantially
higher than her typical performance. While widely debated in sports, gambling,
and financial markets over the past several decades, little is known if hot
streaks apply to individual careers. Here, building on rich literature on
lifecycle of creativity, we collected large-scale career histories of
individual artists, movie directors and scientists, tracing the artworks,
movies, and scientific publications they produced. We find that, across all
three domains, hit works within a career show a high degree of temporal
regularity, each career being characterized by bursts of high-impact works
occurring in sequence. We demonstrate that these observations can be explained
by a simple hot-streak model we developed, allowing us to probe quantitatively
the hot streak phenomenon governing individual careers, which we find to be
remarkably universal across diverse domains we analyzed: The hot streaks are
ubiquitous yet unique across different careers. While the vast majority of
individuals have at least one hot streak, hot streaks are most likely to occur
only once. The hot streak emerges randomly within an individual's sequence of
works, is temporally localized, and is unassociated with any detectable change
in productivity. We show that, since works produced during hot streaks garner
significantly more impact, the uncovered hot streaks fundamentally drives the
collective impact of an individual, ignoring which leads us to systematically
over- or under-estimate the future impact of a career. These results not only
deepen our quantitative understanding of patterns governing individual
ingenuity and success, they may also have implications for decisions and
policies involving predicting and nurturing individuals with lasting impact
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