3,699 research outputs found
Circularly polarised broadband planar lightweight reflectarray with eligible pattern for satellite communications in Ku-Band
This study presents a lightweight planar patch-array reflectarray at Ku-band for satellite communications. The reflectarray is composed of two separate planar structures: the radiating interface formed by a planar multi-layered broadband patch array, and a phase shifting device formed by 3 dB/90° couplers. The radiating element is a multi-layered patch structure, designed to provide circular polarisation (CP). Each array cell phase is controlled by open-ended shifting lines of variable length connected to the 3 dB/90° couplers. The use of this kind of couplers maintains the same CP received/transmitted: the design imposes that if a right-hand CP (RHCP) [or left-hand CP (LHCP)] is received coming from the feeder, the same RHCP (or LHCP) configuration is re-radiated by the reflectarray. Additionally, the feeding horn can be moved in the x or y axes, so that the feeder angular position let re-define the radiation pattern and its pointing direction. Finally, measurements of a lightweight portable planar reflectarray prototype are provided and very good agreement is observed when compared with theoretical result
On two-dimensional superpotentials: from classical Hamilton-Jacobi theory to 2D supersymmetric quantum mechanics
Superpotentials in supersymmetric classical mechanics are no
more than the Hamilton characteristic function of the Hamilton-Jacobi theory
for the associated purely bosonic dynamical system. Modulo a global sign, there
are several superpotentials ruling Hamilton-Jacobi separable supersymmetric
systems, with a number of degrees of freedom greater than one. Here, we explore
how supersymmetry and separability are entangled in the quantum version of this
kind of system. We also show that the planar anisotropic harmonic oscillator
and the two-Newtonian centers of force problem admit two non-equivalent
supersymmetric extensions with different ground states and Yukawa couplings.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, version to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Ge
Higher Order Matrix SUSY Transformations in Two-Dimensional Quantum Mechanics
The iteration procedure of supersymmetric transformations for the
two-dimensional Schroedinger operator is implemented by means of the matrix
form of factorization in terms of matrix 2x2 supercharges. Two different types
of iterations are investigated in detail. The particular case of diagonal
initial Hamiltonian is considered, and the existence of solutions is
demonstrated. Explicit examples illustrate the construction.Comment: 15
Intensive care unit discharge to the ward with a tracheostomy cannula as a risk factor for mortality: A prospective, multicenter propensity analysis
To analyze the impact of decannulation before intensive care unit
discharge on ward survival in nonexperimental conditions. DESIGN: Prospective,
observational survey. SETTING: Thirty-one intensive care units throughout Spain.
PATIENTS: All patients admitted from March 1, 2008 to May 31, 2008.
INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: At intensive care unit
discharge, we recorded demographic variables, severity score, and intensive care
unit treatments, with special attention to tracheostomy. After intensive care
unit discharge, we recorded intensive care unit readmission and hospital
survival. STATISTICS: Multivariate analyses for ward mortality, with Cox
proportional hazard ratio adjusted for propensity score for intensive care unit
decannulation. We included 4,132 patients, 1,996 of whom needed mechanical
ventilation. Of these, 260 (13%) were tracheostomized and 59 (23%) died in the
intensive care unit. Of the 201 intensive care unit tracheostomized survivors, 60
were decannulated in the intensive care unit and 141 were discharged to the ward
with cannulae in place. Variables associated with intensive care unit
decannulation (non-neurologic disease [85% vs. 64%], vasoactive drugs [90% vs.
76%], parenteral nutrition [55% vs. 33%], acute renal failure [37% vs. 23%], and
good prognosis at intensive care unit discharge [40% vs. 18%]) were included in a
propensity score model for decannulation. Crude ward mortality was similar in
decannulated and nondecannulated patients (22% vs. 23%); however, after
adjustment for the propensity score and Sabadell Score, the presence of a
tracheostomy cannula was not associated with any survival disadvantage with an
odds ratio of 0.6 [0.3-1.2] (p=.1). CONCLUSION: In our multicenter setting,
intensive care unit discharge before decannulation is not a risk factor
Specific star-formation and the relation to stellar mass from 0<z<2 as seen in the far-infrared at 70 and 160mu
We use the Spitzer Wide-area InfraRed Extragalactic Legacy Survey (SWIRE) to
explore the specific star-formation activity of galaxies and their evolution
near the peak of the cosmic far-infrared (FIR) background at 70 and 160um. We
use a stacking analysis to determine the mean FIR properties of well defined
subsets of galaxies at flux levels well below the FIR catalogue detection
limits of SWIRE and other Spitzer surveys. We tabulate the contribution of
different subsets of galaxies to the FIR background at 70um and 160um. These
long wavelengths provide a good constraint on the bolometric, obscured
emission. The large area provides good constraints at low z and in finer
redshift bins than previous work. At all redshifts we find that the specific
FIR Luminosity (sLFIR) decreases with increasing mass, following a trend
L_FIR/M* propto M_* ^beta with beta =-0.38\pm0.14. This is a more continuous
change than expected from the {Delucia2007} semi-analytic model suggesting
modifications to the feedback prescriptions. We see an increase in the sLFIR by
about a factor of ~100 from 0<z<2 and find that the sLFIR evolves as
(1+z)^alpha with alpha=4.4\pm0.3 for galaxies with 10.5 < log M*/Msun < 12.
This is considerably steeper than the {Delucia2007} semi-analytic model (alpha
\sim 2.5). When separating galaxies into early and late types on the basis of
the optical/IR spectral energy distributions we find that the decrease in sLFIR
with stellar mass is stronger in early type galaxies (beta ~ -0.46), while late
type galaxies exhibit a flatter trend (beta \sim -0.15). The evolution is
strong for both classes but stronger for the early type galaxies. The early
types show a trend of decreasing strength of evolution as we move from lower to
higher masses while the evolution of the late type galaxies has little
dependence on stellar mass. We suggest that in late-type galaxies we are seeing
a consistently declining sSFR..Comment: v2 Update doesn't change the content of the paper, but now includes
data files for the plots Fig 5-13 (all.plotdat, spi.plotdat and ell.plotdat
on arXiv package
Total synthesis of Escherichia coli with a recoded genome
Nature uses 64 codons to encode the synthesis of proteins from the genome, and chooses 1 sense codon—out of up to 6 synonyms—to encode each amino acid. Synonymous codon choice has diverse and important roles, and many synonymous substitutions are detrimental. Here we demonstrate that the number of codons used to encode the canonical amino acids can be reduced, through the genome-wide substitution of target codons by defined synonyms. We create a variant of Escherichia coli with a four-megabase synthetic genome through a high-fidelity convergent total synthesis. Our synthetic genome implements a defined recoding and refactoring scheme—with simple corrections at just seven positions—to replace every known occurrence of two sense codons and a stop codon in the genome. Thus, we recode 18,214 codons to create an organism with a 61-codon genome; this organism uses 59 codons to encode the 20 amino acids, and enables the deletion of a previously essential transfer RNA
Effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination in Spain
With the aim of determining rotavirus vaccine effectiveness (RVVE) in Spain, from Oct-2008/Jun-2009, 467 consecutive children below 2 years old with acute gastroenteritis (AGE) were recruited using a pediatric research network (ReGALIP-www.regalip.org) that includes primary, emergency and hospital care settings. Of 467 enrolled children, 32.3% were rotavirus positive and 35.0% had received at least one dose of any rotavirus vaccine. RRVE to prevent any episode of rotavirus AGE was 91.5% (95% CI: 83.7%-95.6%). RVVE to prevent hospitalization by rotavirus AGE was 95.6% (85.6-98.6%). No differences in RVVE were found regarding the vaccine used. Rotavirus vaccines have showed an outstanding effectiveness in Spain
Olive oil and prevention of chronic diseases: summary of an International conference
Abstract Olive oil is the foremost source of fat in the Mediterranean area and, among other features, sets the Mediterranean diet apart from other dietary regimens. In January 2018, the International Olive Council convened several worldwide experts at the Robert Mondavi Institute (Davis, CA), to discuss and summarize the available data on the effects of olive oil consumption on human health. In this paper, we critically provide a synthesis of the main reported findings, which underscore how and why consuming this oil as part of a balanced diet and healthful lifestyle improves prognosis and extends life- and health-spans
Lipid profile, cardiovascular disease and mortality in a Mediterranean high-risk population: The ESCARVAL-RISK study.
The potential impact of targeting different components of an adverse lipid profile in populations with multiple cardiovascular risk factors is not completely clear. This study aims to assess the association between different components of the standard lipid profile with all-cause mortality and hospitalization due to cardiovascular events in a high-risk population.
This prospective registry included high risk adults over 30 years old free of cardiovascular disease (2008-2012). Diagnosis of hypertension, dyslipidemia or diabetes mellitus was inclusion criterion. Lipid biomarkers were evaluated. Primary endpoints were all-cause mortality and hospital admission due to coronary heart disease or stroke. We estimated adjusted rate ratios (aRR), absolute risk differences and population attributable risk associated with adverse lipid profiles.
51,462 subjects were included with a mean age of 62.6 years (47.6% men). During an average follow-up of 3.2 years, 919 deaths, 1666 hospitalizations for coronary heart disease and 1510 hospitalizations for stroke were recorded. The parameters that showed an increased rate for total mortality, coronary heart disease and stroke hospitalization were, respectively, low HDL-Cholesterol: aRR 1.25, 1.29 and 1.23; high Total/HDL-Cholesterol: aRR 1.22, 1.38 and 1.25; and high Triglycerides/HDL-Cholesterol: aRR 1.21, 1.30, 1.09. The parameters that showed highest population attributable risk (%) were, respectively, low HDL-Cholesterol: 7.70, 11.42, 8.40; high Total/HDL-Cholesterol: 6.55, 12.47, 8.73; and high Triglycerides/HDL-Cholesterol: 8.94, 15.09, 6.92.
In a population with cardiovascular risk factors, HDL-cholesterol, Total/HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides/HDL-cholesterol ratios were associated with a higher population attributable risk for cardiovascular disease compared to other common biomarkers.S
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