Beam Test Results of the BTeV Silicon Pixel Detector

The results of the BTeV silicon pixel detector beam test carried out at Fermilab in 1999-2000 are reported. The pixel detector spatial resolution has been studied as a function of track inclination, sensor bias, and readout threshold.Comment: 8 pages of text, 8 figures, Proceedings paper of Pixel 2000: International Workshop on Semiconductor Pixel Detectors for Particles and X-Rays, Genova, June 5-8, 200

Telemedicine Facilitates CHF Home Health Care for Those with Systolic Dysfunction

An estimated 5 million Americans have congestive heart failure (CHF) and one in five over the age of 40 will develop CHF. There are numerous examples of CHF patients living beyond the years normally expected for people with the disease, usually attributed to taking an active role in disease management. A relatively new alternative for CHF outpatient care is telemedicine and e-health. We investigated the effects of a 6-week in-home telemedicine education and monitoring program for those with systolic dysfunction on the utilization of health care resources. We also measured the effects of the unit 4.5 months after its removal (a total of 6 months post introduction of the unit into the home). Concurrently, we assessed participants' perceptions of the value of having a telemedicine unit. Participants in the telemedicine group reported weighing more times a week with less variability than did the control group. Telemedicine led to a reduction in physician and emergency department visits and those in the experimental group reported the unit facilitating self-care, though this was not significantly different from the control group (possibly due to small sample size). These findings suggest a possibility for improvement in control of CHF when telemedicine is implemented. Our review of the literature also supports the role of telemedicine in facilitating home health care and self-management for CHF patients. There are many challenges still to be addressed before this potential can be reached and further research is needed to identify opportunities in telemedicine

Gravitomagnetism in the Kerr-Newman-Taub-NUT spacetime

We study the motion of test particles and electromagnetic waves in the Kerr-Newman-Taub-NUT spacetime in order to elucidate some of the effects associated with the gravitomagnetic monopole moment of the source. In particular, we determine in the linear approximation the contribution of this monopole to the gravitational time delay and the rotation of the plane of the polarization of electromagnetic waves. Moreover, we consider "spherical" orbits of uncharged test particles in the Kerr-Taub-NUT spacetime and discuss the modification of the Wilkins orbits due to the presence of the gravitomagnetic monopole.Comment: 12 pages LaTeX iopart style, uses PicTex for 1 Figur

Circular holonomy in the Taub-NUT spacetime

Parallel transport around closed circular orbits in the equatorial plane of the Taub-NUT spacetime is analyzed to reveal the effect of the gravitomagnetic monopole parameter on circular holonomy transformations. Investigating the boost/rotation decomposition of the connection 1-form matrix evaluated along these orbits, one finds a situation that reflects the behavior of the general orthogonally transitive stationary axisymmetric case and indeed along Killing trajectories in general.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX iopart class, no figure

Use of attribute association error probability estimates to evaluate quality of medical record geocodes

BACKGROUND: The utility of patient attributes associated with the spatiotemporal analysis of medical records lies not just in their values but also the strength of association between them. Estimating the extent to which a hierarchy of conditional probability exists between patient attribute associations such as patient identifying fields, patient and date of diagnosis, and patient and address at diagnosis is fundamental to estimating the strength of association between patient and geocode, and patient and enumeration area. We propose a hierarchy for the attribute associations within medical records that enable spatiotemporal relationships. We also present a set of metrics that store attribute association error probability (AAEP), to estimate error probability for all attribute associations upon which certainty in a patient geocode depends. METHODS: A series of experiments were undertaken to understand how error estimation could be operationalized within health data and what levels of AAEP in real data reveal themselves using these methods. Specifically, the goals of this evaluation were to (1) assess if the concept of our error assessment techniques could be implemented by a population-based cancer registry; (2) apply the techniques to real data from a large health data agency and characterize the observed levels of AAEP; and (3) demonstrate how detected AAEP might impact spatiotemporal health research. RESULTS: We present an evaluation of AAEP metrics generated for cancer cases in a North Carolina county. We show examples of how we estimated AAEP for selected attribute associations and circumstances. We demonstrate the distribution of AAEP in our case sample across attribute associations, and demonstrate ways in which disease registry specific operations influence the prevalence of AAEP estimates for specific attribute associations. CONCLUSIONS: The effort to detect and store estimates of AAEP is worthwhile because of the increase in confidence fostered by the attribute association level approach to the assessment of uncertainty in patient geocodes, relative to existing geocoding related uncertainty metrics

Acute effects of remote ischemic preconditioning on cutaneous microcirculation - a controlled prospective cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Therapeutic strategies aiming to reduce ischemia/reperfusion injury by conditioning tissue tolerance against ischemia appear attractive not only from a scientific perspective, but also in clinics. Although previous studies indicate that remote ischemic intermittent preconditioning (RIPC) is a systemic phenomenon, only a few studies have focused on the elucidation of its mechanisms of action especially in the clinical setting. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the acute microcirculatory effects of remote ischemic preconditioning on a distinct cutaneous location at the lower extremity which is typically used as a harvesting site for free flap reconstructive surgery in a human in-vivo setting.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Microcirculatory data of 27 healthy subjects (25 males, age 24 ± 4 years, BMI 23.3) were evaluated continuously at the anterolateral aspect of the left thigh during RIPC using combined Laser-Doppler and photospectrometry (Oxygen-to-see, Lea Medizintechnik, Germany). After baseline microcirculatory measurement, remote ischemia was induced using a tourniquet on the contralateral upper arm for three cycles of 5 min.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After RIPC, tissue oxygen saturation and capillary blood flow increased up to 29% and 35% during the third reperfusion phase versus baseline measurement, respectively (both p = 0.001). Postcapillary venous filling pressure decreased statistically significant by 16% during second reperfusion phase (p = 0.028).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Remote intermittent ischemic preconditioning affects cutaneous tissue oxygen saturation, arterial capillary blood flow and postcapillary venous filling pressure at a remote cutaneous location of the lower extremity. To what extent remote preconditioning might ameliorate reperfusion injury in soft tissue trauma or free flap transplantation further clinical trials have to evaluate.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01235286">NCT01235286</a></p

Cost-Effectiveness of “Golden Mustard” for Treating Vitamin A Deficiency in India

BACKGROUND: Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is an important nutritional problem in India, resulting in an increased risk of severe morbidity and mortality. Periodic, high-dose vitamin A supplementation is the WHO-recommended method to prevent VAD, since a single dose can compensate for reduced dietary intake or increased need over a period of several months. However, in India only 34 percent of targeted children currently receive the two doses per year, and new strategies are urgently needed. METHODOLOGY: Recent advancements in biotechnology permit alternative strategies for increasing the vitamin A content of common foods. Mustard (Brassica juncea), which is consumed widely in the form of oil by VAD populations, can be genetically modified to express high levels of beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A. Using estimates for consumption, we compare predicted costs and benefits of genetically modified (GM) fortification of mustard seed with high-dose vitamin A supplementation and industrial fortification of mustard oil during processing to alleviate VAD by calculating the avertable health burden in terms of disability-adjusted life years (DALY). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We found that all three interventions potentially avert significant numbers of DALYs and deaths. Expanding vitamin A supplementation to all areas was the least costly intervention, at $23-$50 per DALY averted and $1,000-$6,100 per death averted, though cost-effectiveness varied with prevailing health subcenter coverage. GM fortification could avert 5 million-6 million more DALYs and 8,000-46,000 more deaths, mainly because it would benefit the entire population and not just children. However, the costs associated with GM fortification were nearly five times those of supplementation. Industrial fortification was dominated by both GM fortification and supplementation. The cost-effectiveness ratio of each intervention decreased with the prevalence of VAD and was sensitive to the efficacy rate of averted mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Although supplementation is the least costly intervention, our findings also indicate that GM fortification could reduce the VAD disease burden to a substantially greater degree because of its wider reach. Given the difficulties in expanding supplementation to areas without health subcenters, GM fortification of mustard seed is an attractive alternative, and further exploration of this technology is warranted

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

Plant functional traits have globally consistent effects on competition.

Phenotypic traits and their associated trade-offs have been shown to have globally consistent effects on individual plant physiological functions, but how these effects scale up to influence competition, a key driver of community assembly in terrestrial vegetation, has remained unclear. Here we use growth data from more than 3 million trees in over 140,000 plots across the world to show how three key functional traits--wood density, specific leaf area and maximum height--consistently influence competitive interactions. Fast maximum growth of a species was correlated negatively with its wood density in all biomes, and positively with its specific leaf area in most biomes. Low wood density was also correlated with a low ability to tolerate competition and a low competitive effect on neighbours, while high specific leaf area was correlated with a low competitive effect. Thus, traits generate trade-offs between performance with competition versus performance without competition, a fundamental ingredient in the classical hypothesis that the coexistence of plant species is enabled via differentiation in their successional strategies. Competition within species was stronger than between species, but an increase in trait dissimilarity between species had little influence in weakening competition. No benefit of dissimilarity was detected for specific leaf area or wood density, and only a weak benefit for maximum height. Our trait-based approach to modelling competition makes generalization possible across the forest ecosystems of the world and their highly diverse species composition.We are especially grateful to the researchers whose long-term commitment to establish and maintain forest plots and their associated databases made this study possible, and to those who granted us data access: forest inventories and permanent plots of New Zealand, Spain (MAGRAMA), France, Switzerland, Sweden, US and Canada (for the provinces of Quebec provided by the Ministère des Ressources Naturelles du Québec, Ontario provided by OnTAP’s Growth and Yield Program of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador), CTFS (BCI and LTER-Luquillo), Taiwan (Fushan), Cirad (Paracou with funding by CEBA, ANR-10-LABX-25-01), Cirad, MEFCP and ICRA (M’Baïki) and Japan. We thank MPI-BGC Jena, who host TRY, and the international funding networks supporting TRY (IGBP, DIVERSITAS, GLP, NERC, QUEST, FRB and GIS Climate). G.K. was supported by a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Program (Demo-Traits project, no. 299340). The working group that initiated this synthesis was supported by Macquarie University and by Australian Research Council through a fellowship to M.W.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature1647