2,255 research outputs found
Dynamic Balancing in Illness Coping: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis on the Lived Experience of Chinese Patients with Psoriasis
published_or_final_versio
MC-Simulation of the Transverse Double Spin Asymmetry for RHIC
Using {\sc Sphinx tt}, a new MC simulation program for transverse polarized
nucleon--nucleon scattering based on {\sc Pythia~5.6}, we calculate the
transverse double spin asymmetry in the Drell-Yan process. If one
assumes (quite arbitrarily) that the transversity parton distribution equals the helicity distribution at some low
scale, the resulting asymmetry is of order 1\%. In this case is
would hardly be be measurable with PHENIX at RHIC.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Efficacy of mycophenolate mofetil in patients with diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis
Background: The combination of cyclophosphamide and prednisolone is effective for the treatment of severe lupus nephritis but has serious adverse effects. Whether mycophenolate mofetil can be substituted for cyclophosphamide is not known. Methods: In 42 patients with diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis we compared the efficacy and side effects of a regimen of prednisolone and mycophenolate mofetil given for 12 months with those of a regimen of prednisolone and cyclophosphamide given for 6 months, followed by prednisolone and azathioprine for 6 months. Complete remission was defined as a value for urinary protein excretion that was less than 0.3 g per 24 hours, with normal urinary sediment, a normal serum albumin concentration, and values for serum creatinine and creatinine clearance that were no more than 15 percent above the base-line values. Partial remission was defined as a value for urinary protein excretion that was between 0.3 and 2.9 g per 24 hours, with a serum albumin concentration of at least 3.0 g per deciliter. Results: Eighty-one percent of the 21 patients treated with mycophenolate mofetil and prednisolone (group 1) had a complete remission, and 14 percent had a partial remission, as compared with 76 percent and 14 percent, respectively, of the 21 patients treated with cyclophosphamide and prednisolone followed by azathioprine and prednisolone (group 2). The improvements in the degree of protelnuria and the serum albumin and creatinine concentrations were similar in the two groups. One patient in each group discontinued treatment because of side effects. Infections were noted in 19 percent of the patients in group 1 and in 33 percent of those in group 2 (P=0.29). Other adverse effects occurred only in group 2; they included amenorrhea (in 23 percent of the patients), hair loss (19 percent), leukopenia (10 percent), and death (10 percent). The rates of relapse were 15 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Conclusions: For the treatment of diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis, the combination of mycophenolate mofetil and prednisolone is as effective as a regimen of cyclophosphamide and prednisolone followed by azathioprine and prednisolone. (C) 2000, Massachusetts Medical Society.published_or_final_versio
Continuous, self-sustaining smouldering destruction of simulated faeces
A new approach for the rapid destruction of human waste using smouldering combustion is presented. Recently, self-sustaining smouldering combustion was shown to destroy the organic component of simulated human solid waste and dog faeces resulting in the sanitization of all pathogens using a batch process (Yermán et al., 2015). Here, a continuous smouldering process is demonstrated for the first time, allowing for a much smaller reactor size and much less energy input per mass of waste treated. The self-sustained smouldering of simulated human faeces mixed with sand is evaluated over long periods (more than 16 h) based on a single ignition. The key process of intermittent self-sustained smouldering, in which the reaction is terminated and restarted by only turning the air off and on, is demonstrated. Experiments examine the influence of two key operator controls: airflow rate and set elevation of the quasi-steady-state smouldering front in a 37 cm high reactor. Quasi-steady-state fuel destruction rates from 93 g/h to 12 g/h were achieved by varying the superficial flow velocity from 7.4 cm/s to 0.11 cm/s, the latter with a velocity approximately an order of magnitude lower than possible for a self-sustaining reaction in an equivalent batch system. Excess energy of up to 140 J/g of sand was recovered from the clean sand produced in each cycle, which could be used to further increase the energy efficiency of this novel waste treatment system
Quantum Interference of Photon Pairs from Two Trapped Atomic Ions
We collect the fluorescence from two trapped atomic ions, and measure quantum
interference between photons emitted from the ions. The interference of two
photons is a crucial component of schemes to entangle atomic qubits based on a
photonic coupling. The ability to preserve the generated entanglement and to
repeat the experiment with the same ions is necessary to implement entangling
quantum gates between atomic qubits, and allows the implementation of protocols
to efficiently scale to larger numbers of atomic qubits.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Towards quantum computing with single atoms and optical cavities on atom chips
We report on recent developments in the integration of optical
microresonators into atom chips and describe some fabrication and
implementation challenges. We also review theoretical proposals for quantum
computing with single atoms based on the observation of photons leaking through
the cavity mirrors. The use of measurements to generate entanglement can result
in simpler, more robust and scalable quantum computing architectures. Indeed,
we show that quantum computing with atom-cavity systems is feasible even in the
presence of relatively large spontaneous decay rates and finite photon detector
efficiencies.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
Coexistence of the topological state and a two-dimensional electron gas on the surface of Bi2Se3
Topological insulators are a recently discovered class of materials with
fascinating properties: While the inside of the solid is insulating,
fundamental symmetry considerations require the surfaces to be metallic. The
metallic surface states show an unconventional spin texture, electron dynamics
and stability. Recently, surfaces with only a single Dirac cone dispersion have
received particular attention. These are predicted to play host to a number of
novel physical phenomena such as Majorana fermions, magnetic monopoles and
unconventional superconductivity. Such effects will mostly occur when the
topological surface state lies in close proximity to a magnetic or electric
field, a (superconducting) metal, or if the material is in a confined geometry.
Here we show that a band bending near to the surface of the topological
insulator BiSe gives rise to the formation of a two-dimensional
electron gas (2DEG). The 2DEG, renowned from semiconductor surfaces and
interfaces where it forms the basis of the integer and fractional quantum Hall
effects, two-dimensional superconductivity, and a plethora of practical
applications, coexists with the topological surface state in BiSe. This
leads to the unique situation where a topological and a non-topological, easily
tunable and potentially superconducting, metallic state are confined to the
same region of space.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure
A Case of Cicatricial Alopecia Associated with Erlotinib
Erlotinib is a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Erlotinib has been used primarily to treat non-small cell lung cancer. In addition to its role in tumor cells, EGFR is also an important regulator of growth and differentiation in the skin and hair. Therefore, EGFR-TKIs have been associated with a number of cutaneous side effects including follicular acneiform eruptions, cutaneous xerosis, chronic paronychia, desquamation, seborrheic dermatitis, and hair texture changes. Herein, we report a rare case of a 61-year-old woman who was treated with erlotinib and experienced cicatricial alopecia
Cytotoxic polyfunctionality maturation of cytomegalovirus-pp65-specific CD4 + and CD8 + T-cell responses in older adults positively correlates with response size
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is one of the most common persistent viral infections in humans worldwide and is epidemiologically associated with many adverse health consequences during aging. Previous studies yielded conflicting results regarding whether large, CMV-specific T-cell expansions maintain their function during human aging. In the current study, we examined the in vitro CMV-pp65-reactive T-cell response by comprehensively studying five effector functions (i.e., interleukin-2, tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ, perforin, and CD107a expression) in 76 seropositive individuals aged 70 years or older. Two data-driven, polyfunctionality panels (IL-2-associated and cytotoxicity-associated) derived from effector function co-expression patterns were used to analyze the results. We found that, CMV-pp65-reactive CD8 + and CD4 + T cells contained similar polyfunctional subsets, and the level of polyfunctionality was related to the size of antigen-specific response. In both CD8 + and CD4 + cells, polyfunctional cells with high cytotoxic potential accounted for a larger proportion of the total response as the total response size increased. Notably, a higher serum CMV-IgG level was positively associated with a larger T-cell response size and a higher level of cytotoxic polyfunctionality. These findings indicate that CMV-pp65-specific CD4 + and CD8 + T cell undergo simultaneous cytotoxic polyfunctionality maturation during aging
Fully gapped topological surface states in BiSe films induced by a d-wave high-temperature superconductor
Topological insulators are a new class of materials, that exhibit robust
gapless surface states protected by time-reversal symmetry. The interplay
between such symmetry-protected topological surface states and symmetry-broken
states (e.g. superconductivity) provides a platform for exploring novel quantum
phenomena and new functionalities, such as 1D chiral or helical gapless
Majorana fermions, and Majorana zero modes which may find application in
fault-tolerant quantum computation. Inducing superconductivity on topological
surface states is a prerequisite for their experimental realization. Here by
growing high quality topological insulator BiSe films on a d-wave
superconductor BiSrCaCuO using molecular beam epitaxy,
we are able to induce high temperature superconductivity on the surface states
of BiSe films with a large pairing gap up to 15 meV. Interestingly,
distinct from the d-wave pairing of BiSrCaCuO, the
proximity-induced gap on the surface states is nearly isotropic and consistent
with predominant s-wave pairing as revealed by angle-resolved photoemission
spectroscopy. Our work could provide a critical step toward the realization of
the long sought-after Majorana zero modes.Comment: Nature Physics, DOI:10.1038/nphys274
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