29,710 research outputs found

    Transport anomalies in a simplified model for a heavy electron quantum critical point

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    We discuss the transport anomalies associated with the development of heavy electrons out of a neutral spin fluid using the large-N treatment of the Kondo-Heisenberg lattice model. At the phase transition in this model the spin excitations suddenly acquire charge. The Higgs process by which this takes place causes the constraint gauge field to loosely ``lock'' together with the external, electromagnetic gauge field. From this perspective, the heavy fermion phase is a Meissner phase in which the field representing the difference between the electromagnetic and constraint gauge field, is excluded from the material. We show that at the transition into the heavy fermion phase, both the linear and the Hall conductivity jump together. However, the Drude weight of the heavy electron fluid does not jump at the quantum critical point, but instead grows linearly with the distance from the quantum critical point, forming a kind of ``gossamer'' Fermi-liquid.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures. Small change in references in v

    Exploring the experience of pain in adults with sickle cell disease

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    Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is England’s most common blood disorder whereby sickled shaped red blood cells block small blood vessels causing both acute and chronic pain. Currently there is poor understanding about the experience of SCD pain. Furthermore, there is a recognised difficult relationship between SCD patients and health care professionals (HCP) which has been found to prevent patients seeking medical assistance. Seven adults with SCD participated in semi-structured interviews regarding their experience of pain and receiving medical treatment. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, Flowers & Larkin, 2009). The analysis revealed three overarching themes: experiencing unimaginable pain, the dilemma of treatment and finding a life with pain. Findings suggest describing SCD pain is extremely difficult, participants favoured using analogies to attempt to communicate the constant, agonising, limitless, inescapable pain. Participants described that normal rules do not apply in that pain medication does not always relieve pain. These factors have caused misunderstanding with staff thinking SCD patients are drug seeking. Participants wanted HCPs to listen to their own expertise when considering treatment options. Study limitations, implications for clinical practice and current models of health and illness are considered, as well as possible for future research

    Legal and professional implications of shared care: a case study in oral anticoagulation stroke prevention therapy.

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    Policy initiatives and technological advances enable the use of integrated shared care models of healthcare delivery whereby the focus of care is moved from the hospital to the community, and also of models where patients take increasing responsibility for monitoring and treatment. Such shifts may or may be perceived to change professional roles and responsibilities with implications to the delivery of a professionally and legally acceptable standard of care. We focus on oral anticoagulation and stroke prevention therapy to examine some possible professional and legal implications of the increasing use of shared care

    On induced birefringence in viscoelastic materials

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    Describing induced birefringence in viscoelastic materials based on constitutive assumptions for stress and dielectric propertie

    Semi-automatic crop inventory from sequential ERTS-1 imagery

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    The detection of a newly introduced crop into the Imperial (California) Valley by sequential ERTS-1 imagery is proving that individual crop types can be identified by remote sensing techniques. Initial results have provided an extremely useful product for water agencies. A system for the identification of field conditions enables the production of a statistical summary within two to three days of receipt of the ERTS-1 imagery. The summary indicates the total acreage of producing crops and irrigated planted crops currently demanding water and further indicates freshly plowed fields that will be demanding water in the near future. Relating the field conditions to the crop calendar of the region by means of computer techniques will provide specific crop identification for the 8000 plus fields

    Massive Vector Scattering in Lee-Wick Gauge Theory

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    We demonstrate that amplitudes describing scattering of longitudinally polarized massive vector bosons present in non-Abelian Lee-Wick gauge theory do not grow with energy and, hence, satisfy the constraints imposed by perturbative unitarity. This result contrasts with the widely-known violation of perturbative unitarity in the standard model with a very heavy Higgs. Our conclusions are valid to all orders of perturbation theory and depend on the existence of a formulation of the theory in which all operators are of dimension four or less. This can be thought of as a restriction on the kinds of higher dimension operator which can be included in the higher derivative formulation of the theory.Comment: 11 pages, no figure
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