Free initial wave packets and the long-time behavior of the survival and nonescape probabilities

The behavior of both the survival S(t) and nonescape P(t) probabilities at long times for the one-dimensional free particle system is shown to be closely connected to that of the initial wave packet at small momentum. We prove that both S(t) and P(t) asymptotically exhibit the same power-law decrease at long times, when the initial wave packet in momentum representation behaves as O(1) or O(k) at small momentum. On the other hand, if the integer m becomes greater than 1, S(t) and P(t) decrease in different power-laws at long times.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Title and organization changed, however the results not changed, To appear in Phys. Rev.

A retrospective cross-sectional study on tinnitus prevalence and disease associations in the Dutch population-based cohort Lifelines

Tinnitus is a highly prevalent disorder with heterogenous presentation and limited treatment options. Better understanding of its prevalence and disease and lifestyle risk factor associations in the general population is necessary to identify the underlying mechanisms. To this end, we quantified the preva-lence of tinnitus and identified disease and lifestyle risk factors associated with tinnitus within a gen-eral population cohort. For this study, we used the Lifelines population-based cohort study to perform a retrospective cross-sectional study. Lifelines is a large, multi-generational, prospective cohort study that includes over 167,0 0 0 participants (or 10% of the population) from the northern Netherlands. For this study, conducted between 2018 and 2021, data from the Lifelines population-based cohort study was used to perform a cross-sectional study. Adult participants (age >= 18 years) with data on tinnitus per-ception (collected once between 2011 and 2015) were included in this study. An elastic-net regression analysis was performed with tinnitus as the dependent variable and parameters of diseases and lifestyle risk factors (collected once between 2006 and 2014)-including hearing problems, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, psychiatric disorders, thyroid disease, inflammatory disease, and functional somatic syndromes-as the independent variables. Among 124,609 participants, N = 8,011 (6.4%) reported per-ceiving tinnitus constantly (CT: constant tinnitus) and N = 39,625 (31.8%) reported perceiving tinnitus constantly or occasionally (AT: any tinnitus). Our analysis identified 38 parameters that were associated with AT and 48 parameters that were associated with CT. Our study identified established disease as-sociates with tinnitus, including problems with hearing (OR 8.570 with CT), arrythmia (OR 1.742 with CT), transient ischemic attack (OR 1.284 with AT), diabetes mellitus (OR 1.014 with AT) and psychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder (OR 1.506 with CT). Factors related to lifestyle associated with tinnitus included waist-hip ratio (OR 1.061 with CT) and smoking (OR 1.028 with AT). Novel disease associates with CT were identified for inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (OR 1.297) and ulcerative colitis (OR 1.588), thyroid disease (as evidenced by the use of thyroid medication) (OR 1.298), and functional somatic syndromes, including chronic fatigue syndrome (OR 1.568). In addition to validating established disease associates in a general population cohort, this study identified novel associ-ations with tinnitus and several disease categories, including functional somatic syndromes, inflammatory diseases, and thyroid disease. Future work will be necessary to identify whether (common) mechanisms underly tinnitus and these associated disorders. Lifelines is an important new resource available for future studies investigating tinnitus in the general population. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Determinants of HbA1c reduction with FreeStyle Libre flash glucose monitoring (FLARE-NL 5)

Aims: To identify factors predicting HbA1c reduction in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) using FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring (FSL-FGM). Methods: Data from a 12-month prospective nation-wide FSL registry were used and analysed with multivariable regression. For the present study we included patients with hypoglycaemia unawareness or unexpected hypoglycaemias (n = 566) and persons who did not reach acceptable glycaemic control (HbA1c > 70 mmol/mol (8.5%)) (n = 294). People with other indications for use, such as sensation loss of the fingers or individuals already using FSL-FGM or rtCGM, were excluded (37%). Results: Eight hundred and sixty persons (55% male with a mean age of 46.7 (+/- 16.4) years) were included. Baseline HbA1c was 65.1 (+/- 14.5) mmol/mol (8.1 +/- 1.3%), 75% of the patients had type 1 DM and 37% had microvascular complications. Data concerning HbA1c was present for 482 (56.0%) at 6 months and 423 (49.2%) persons at 12 months. A significant reduction in HbA1c (>= 5 mmol/mol (0.5%)) was present in 187 (22%) persons. For these persons, median HbA1c reduction was -9.0 [-13.0, -4.0] mmol/mol (-0.82 [-1.19, -0.37]%) at 6 months and -9.0 [-15.0, -7.0] mmol/mol (-0.82 [-1.37, -0.64]%) at 12 months. In multi-variable regression analysis with age, gender and SF-12 physical and mental component scores as covariates, only baseline HbA1c was significant: -0.319 (SE 0.025; p <0.001; R-2 = 0.240 for the model). In exploratory analysis among subgroups with different indications for FSL-FGM use (hypoglycaemia unawareness or persistently high HbA1c) and persons with a significant HbA1c decrease over the study period, baseline HbA1c remained the only significant predictor. Conclusions: Among the variables we analysed in the present study, only high HbA1c at baseline predicts significant HbA1c reduction during FSL-CGM use

Inhibition of the production of mediators of inflammation by corticosteroids is a glucocorticoid receptor-mediated process

In order to find an explanation for corticosteroid resistance we assessed whether inhibition by dexamethasone (DEX) of the stimulated production of TNF-∝, IL-6, PGE2 and LTB4 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNC) depends on binding to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), and whether it is determined by the number or the affinity of the GR of these cells. GR number and affinity of MNC were determined by means of a whole cell DEX binding assay. MNC were incubated with DEX and LPS or A23187 in the absence or presence of RU486, a potent steroid antagonist. DEX caused a concentration dependent inhibition of TNF-∝, IL-6 and PGE2 production but had no effect on LTB4 production. RU486 significantly blocked the effect of DEX, but no correlations were found between the inhibition of mediator release and the Kd or receptor number

Target and (Astro-)WISE technologies - Data federations and its applications

After its first implementation in 2003 the Astro-WISE technology has been rolled out in several European countries and is used for the production of the KiDS survey data. In the multi-disciplinary Target initiative this technology, nicknamed WISE technology, has been further applied to a large number of projects. Here, we highlight the data handling of other astronomical applications, such as VLT-MUSE and LOFAR, together with some non-astronomical applications such as the medical projects Lifelines and GLIMPS, the MONK handwritten text recognition system, and business applications, by amongst others, the Target Holding. We describe some of the most important lessons learned and describe the application of the data-centric WISE type of approach to the Science Ground Segment of the Euclid satellite.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, Proceedngs IAU Symposium No 325 Astroinformatics 201

‘Bring back Hitler’s gas chambers’: asylum seeking, Nazis and facebook – a discursive analysis

In this article, we explore how talk about Nazis is used in Internet discussions regarding asylum seeking, and the issue of whether or not opposition to asylum seeking is racist. Discursive analysis was conducted on discussions about asylum seeking from the social networking website Facebook, where references to Nazis were made. Three strategies were identified: (1) people supporting asylum seeking accuse asylum opponents of being racist by referring to Nazis; (2) opponents of asylum seeking deal with such accusations by arguing that the debate is being suppressed because of references to Nazis; (3) in the final, and most striking, strategy, opponents of asylum draw upon ideas associated with the Nazis and Hitler to bring about their anti-asylum position. These findings are discussed in relation to how the link between Nazis and racism is emerging in the asylum debat

Numerical description of discharge characteristics of the plasma needle

The plasma needle is a small atmospheric, nonthermal, radio-frequency discharge, generated at the tip of a needle, which can be used for localized disinfection of biological tissues. Although several experiments have characterized various qualities of the plasma needle, discharge characteristics and electrical properties are still not well known. In order to provide initial estimates on electrical properties and quantities such as particle densities, we employed a two-dimensional, time-dependent fluid model to describe the plasma needle. In this model the balance equation is solved in the drift-diffusion approach for various species and the electron energy, as well as Poisson's equation. We found that the plasma production occurs in the sheath region and results in a steady flux of reactive species outwards. Even at small (< 0.1%) admixtures of N-2 to the He background, N-2(+) is the dominant ion. The electron density is typically 10(11) cm(-3) and the dissipated power is in the order of 10 mW. These results are consistent with the experimental data available and can give direction to the practical development of the plasma needle. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics