Network Structures and the Properties of Na-Ca-Sr-Borophosphate Glasses

Borophosphate glasses were prepared with the nominal molar compositions 16Na2O-(24-y)CaO-ySrO-xB2O3-(60-x)P2O5 (mol%), where 0≤x≤60 and y=0, 12, and 24. Information about the compositional dependence of borate and phosphate site speciation and next nearest neighbor linkages was obtained by 11B and 31P MAS NMR and Raman spectroscopies, and by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). With the initial replacement of P2O5 by B2O3, tetrahedral borate sites linked to four phosphate anions, B(ØP)4, are created in the glass structure, and the average phosphate anion becomes smaller as bridging PØP bonds are replaced by bridging PØB bonds. With further increases in the B2O3 content, borate units, including B-triangles, replace phosphate units linked to the B-tetrahedra. Compositional trends for the glass transition temperature (Tg) and molar volume are explained by considering the number and types of bridging oxygens per glass former, consistent with topological models reported elsewhere

Data fusion with Gaussian processes for estimation of environmental hazard events

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this recordThe data that support the findings of this study are openly available at https://wisc.climate.copernicus.eu/wisc/#/ help/products#stormtrack_download, WISC (2019).Environmental hazard events such as extra-tropical cyclones or windstorms that develop in the North Atlantic can cause severe societal damage. Environmental hazard is quantified by the hazard footprint, a spatial area describing potential damage. However, environmental hazards are never directly observed, so estimation of the footprint for any given event is primarily reliant on station observations (e.g., wind speed in the case of a windstorm event) and physical model hindcasts. Both data sources are indirect measurements of the true footprint, and here we present a general statistical framework to combine the two data sources for estimating the underlying footprint. The proposed framework extends current data fusion approaches by allowing structured Gaussian process discrepancy between physical model and the true footprint, while retaining the elegance of how the "change of support" problem is dealt with. Simulation is used to assess the practical feasibility and efficacy of the framework, which is then illustrated using data on windstorm ImogenNatural Environment Research Council (NERC

Diagnostic accuracy of single baseline measurement of Elecsys Troponin T high-sensitive assay for diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in emergency department: systematic review and meta-analysis

Published onlineJournal ArticleMeta-AnalysisResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tReviewOBJECTIVE: To obtain summary estimates of the accuracy of a single baseline measurement of the Elecsys Troponin T high-sensitive assay (Roche Diagnostics) for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in patients presenting to the emergency department. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy studies. DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase, and other relevant electronic databases were searched for papers published between January 2006 and December 2013. STUDY SELECTION: Studies were included if they evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of a single baseline measurement of Elecsys Troponin T high-sensitive assay for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in patients presenting to the emergency department with suspected acute coronary syndrome. STUDY APPRAISAL AND DATA SYNTHESIS: The first author screened all titles and abstracts identified through the searches and selected all potentially relevant papers. The screening of the full texts, the data extraction, and the methodological quality assessment, using the adapted QUADAS-2 tool, were conducted independently by two reviewers with disagreements being resolved through discussion or arbitration. If appropriate, meta-analysis was conducted using the hierarchical bivariate model. RESULTS: Twenty three studies reported the performance of the evaluated assay at presentation. The results for 14 ng/L and 3-5 ng/L cut-off values were pooled separately. At 14 ng/L (20 papers), the summary sensitivity was 89.5% (95% confidence interval 86.3% to 92.1%) and the summary specificity was 77.1% (68.7% to 83.7%). At 3-5 ng/L (six papers), the summary sensitivity was 97.4% (94.9% to 98.7%) and the summary specificity was 42.4% (31.2% to 54.5%). This means that if 21 of 100 consecutive patients have the target condition (21%, the median prevalence across the studies), 2 (95% confidence interval 2 to 3) of 21 patients with acute myocardial infarction will be missed (false negatives) if 14 ng/L is used as a cut-off value and 18 (13 to 25) of 79 patients without acute myocardial infarction will test positive (false positives). If the 3-5 ng/L cut-off value is used, <1 (0 to 1) patient with acute myocardial infarction will be missed and 46 (36 to 54) patients without acute myocardial infarction will test positive. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that a single baseline measurement of the Elecsys Troponin T high-sensitive assay could be used to rule out acute myocardial infarction if lower cut-off values such as 3 ng/L or 5 ng/L are used. However, this method should be part of a comprehensive triage strategy and may not be appropriate for patients who present less than three hours after symptom onset. Care must also be exercised because of the higher imprecision of the evaluated assay and the greater effect of lot-to-lot reagent variation at low troponin concentrations. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration number CRD42013003926.This research was funded by the South West Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership for Applied Health Research and Care for the South West Peninsula

Four-nucleon contact interactions from holographic QCD

We calculate the low energy constants of four-nucleon interactions in an effective chiral Lagrangian in holographic QCD. We start with a D4-D8 model to obtain meson-nucleon interactions and then integrate out massive mesons to obtain the four-nucleon interactions in 4D. We end up with two low energy constants at the leading order and seven of them at the next leading order, which is consistent with the effective chiral Lagrangian. The values of the low energy constants are evaluated with the first five Kaluza-Klein resonances.Comment: 28 page

Meson Exchange Effect on Color Superconductivity

We investigate the effects of pion and gluon exchanges on the formation of two-flavor color superconductivity at moderate density, $\mu <1 GeV$. The chiral quark model proposed by Manohar and Georgi containing pions as well as gluons is employed to show that the pion exchange reduces substantially the value of the superconducting gap gotten with the gluon exchange only. It turns out that the pion exchanges produce a repulsion between quark-quark pair in a spin and isospin singlet state. We suggest that the phase consisiting of pions, gluons and quarks is one of the candidates of in-medium QCD phase at moderate density.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, minor correction

Finite-Temperature Corrections in the Dilated Chiral Quark Model

We calculate the finite-temperature corrections in the dilated chiral quark model using the effective potential formalism. Assuming that the dilaton limit is applicable at some short length scale, we interpret the results to represent the behavior of hadrons in dense {\it and} hot matter. We obtain the scaling law, $\frac{f_{\pi}(T)}{f_{\pi}} = \frac{m_Q (T)}{m_Q} \simeq \frac{m_{\sigma}(T)}{m_{\sigma}}$ while we argue, using PCAC, that pion mass does not scale within the temperature range involved in our Lagrangian. It is found that the hadron masses and the pion decay constant drop faster with temperature in the dilated chiral quark model than in the conventional linear sigma model that does not take into account the QCD scale anomaly. We attribute the difference in scaling in heat bath to the effect of baryonic medium on thermal properties of the hadrons. Our finding would imply that the AGS experiments (dense {\it and} hot matter) and the RHIC experiments (hot and dilute matter) will ``see" different hadron properties in the hadronization phase.Comment: 13 pages , LaTe

Can majority support save an endangered language? A case study of language attitudes in Guernsey

Many studies of minority language revitalisation focus on the attitudes and perceptions of minorities, but not on those of majority group members. This paper discusses the implications of these issues, and presents research into majority andf minority attitudes towards the endangered indigenous vernacular of Guernsey, Channel Islands. The research used a multi-method approach (questionnaire and interview) to obtain attitudinal data from a representative sample of the population that included politicians and civil servants (209 participants). The findings suggested a shift in language ideology away from the post-second world war ‘culture of modernisation’ and monolingual ideal, towards recognition of the value of a bi/trilingual linguistic heritage. Public opinion in Guernsey now seems to support the maintenance of the indigenous language variety, which has led to a degree of official support. The paper then discusses to what extent this ‘attitude shift’ is reflected in linguistic behaviour and in concrete language planning measures

Vector Manifestation and Fate of Vector Mesons in Dense Matter

We describe in-medium properties of hadrons in dense matter near chiral restoration using a Wilsonian matching to QCD of an effective field theory with hidden local symmetry at the chiral cutoff $\Lambda$. We find that chiral symmetry is restored in vector manifestation \`a la Harada and Yamawaki at a critical matter density $n_c$. We express the critical density in terms of QCD correlators in dense matter at the matching scale. In a manner completely analogous to what happens at the critical $N_f^c$ and at the critical temperature $T^c$, the vector meson mass is found to vanish (in the chiral limit) at chiral restoration. This result provides a support for Brown-Rho scaling predicted a decade ago.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Symmetry energy of dense matter in holographic QCD

We study the nuclear symmetry energy of dense matter using holographic QCD. To this end, we consider two flavor branes with equal quark masses in a D4/D6/D6 model. We find that at all densities the symmetry energy monotonically increases. At small densities, it exhibits a power law behavior with the density, $E_{\rm sym} \sim \rho^{1/2}$.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure