Sturm-Liouville operators on time scales

We establish the connection between Sturm-Liouville equations on time scales and Sturm--Liouville equations with measure-valued coefficients. Based on this connection we generalize several results for Sturm-Liouville equations on time scales which have been obtained by various authors in the past.Comment: 12 page

Final report for the Tera Computer TTI CRADA

Tera Computer and Sandia National Laboratories have completed a CRADA, which examined the Tera Multi-Threaded Architecture (MTA) for use with large codes of importance to industry and DOE. The MTA is an innovative architecture that uses parallelism to mask latency between memories and processors. The physical implementation is a parallel computer with high cross-section bandwidth and GaAs processors designed by Tera, which support many small computation threads and fast, lightweight context switches between them. When any thread blocks while waiting for memory accesses to complete, another thread immediately begins execution so that high CPU utilization is maintained. The Tera MTA parallel computer has a single, global address space, which is appealing when porting existing applications to a parallel computer. This ease of porting is further enabled by compiler technology that helps break computations into parallel threads. DOE and Sandia National Laboratories were interested in working with Tera to further develop this computing concept. While Tera Computer would continue the hardware development and compiler research, Sandia National Laboratories would work with Tera to ensure that their compilers worked well with important Sandia codes, most particularly CTH, a shock physics code used for weapon safety computations. In addition to that important code, Sandia National Laboratories would complete research on a robotic path planning code, SANDROS, which is important in manufacturing applications, and would evaluate the MTA performance on this code. Finally, Sandia would work directly with Tera to develop 3D visualization codes, which would be appropriate for use with the MTA. Each of these tasks has been completed to the extent possible, given that Tera has just completed the MTA hardware. All of the CRADA work had to be done on simulators

A Deterioration in Hearing is Associated With Functional and Cognitive Impairments, Difficulty With Communication and Greater Health Instability

Objectives: To examine the relationship between hearing deterioration and several health-related outcomes among home care clients in Ontario. Design: Longitudinal analysis was completed for clients with at least two comprehensive assessments. Hearing status, based on a single item, ranged from zero (no impairment) to three (highly impaired). Hearing deterioration was defined as at least a 1-point decline between subsequent assessments. Results: Seven percent experienced a 1-point deterioration in hearing and roughly 1% had a 2/3-point decline. After adjusting for other covariates, increasing age (odds ratio = 1.94; 95% confidence intervals [CIs] = [1.45, 2.61]) and a diagnosis of Alzheimer\u27s disease (1.37; CI = [1.04, 1.80]) and other dementias (1.32; CI = [1.07, 1.63]) increased the risk of a 2/3-point deterioration. Conclusion: These findings can assist home care professionals and policy makers in creating and refining interventions to meet the needs of older adults with hearing difficulties

Superconducting Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O films by sputtering

Superconducting Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O thin films 0.2–1.0 µm thick have been prepared on MgO(100) and SrTiO3 (100) substrates by dc diode sputtering using a single oxide target. Films containing primarily the Tl2Ba2Ca1Cu2O8 phase were obtained with a Tc (R =0) at 102 K and a transport Jc of 104 A/cm2 at 90 K. For the nearly pure phase Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3O10 films, the Tc\u27s (R =0) are higher at 116 K and the transport Jc\u27s at 100 K are of 105 A/cm2. Both types of films show a strong preferred orientation with the c axis perpendicular to the film plane. The rocking curve of the Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3O10 films is 0.32° wide and the typical grain size is over 10 µm

Superconducting Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O films by sputtering

Superconducting Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O thin films 0.2–1.0 µm thick have been prepared on MgO(100) and SrTiO3 (100) substrates by dc diode sputtering using a single oxide target. Films containing primarily the Tl2Ba2Ca1Cu2O8 phase were obtained with a Tc (R =0) at 102 K and a transport Jc of 104 A/cm2 at 90 K. For the nearly pure phase Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3O10 films, the Tc\u27s (R =0) are higher at 116 K and the transport Jc\u27s at 100 K are of 105 A/cm2. Both types of films show a strong preferred orientation with the c axis perpendicular to the film plane. The rocking curve of the Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3O10 films is 0.32° wide and the typical grain size is over 10 µm

Comparison of quantum mechanical and classical trajectory calculations of cross sections for ion-atom impact ionization of negative - and positive -ions for heavy ion fusion applications

Stripping cross sections in nitrogen have been calculated using the classical trajectory approximation and the Born approximation of quantum mechanics for the outer shell electrons of 3.2GeV I$^{-}$ and Cs$^{+}$ ions. A large difference in cross section, up to a factor of six, calculated in quantum mechanics and classical mechanics, has been obtained. Because at such high velocities the Born approximation is well validated, the classical trajectory approach fails to correctly predict the stripping cross sections at high energies for electron orbitals with low ionization potential.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.

Experimental Constraints on Heavy Fermions in Higgsless Models

Using an effective Lagrangian approach we analyze a generic Higgsless model with composite heavy fermions, transforming as SU(2)_{L+R} Doublets. Assuming that the Standard Model fermions acquire mass through mixing with the new heavy fermions, we constrain the free parameters of the effective Lagrangian studying Flavour Changing Neutral Current processes. In so doing we obtain bounds that can be applied to a wide range of models characterized by the same fermion mixing hypothesis.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figure

Combined Impairments in Vision, Hearing and Cognition are Associated with Greater Levels of Functional and Communication Difficulties Than Cognitive Impairment Alone: Analysis of interRAI Data for Home Care and Long-Term Care Recipients in Ontario

Objectives: The objective of the current study was to understand the added effects of having a sensory impairment (vision and/or hearing impairment) in combination with cognitive impairment with respect to health-related outcomes among older adults (65+ years old) receiving home care or residing in a long-term care (LTC) facility in Ontario, Canada. Methods: Cross-sectional analyses were conducted using existing data collected with one of two interRAI assessments, one for home care (n = 291,824) and one for LTC (n = 110,578). Items in the assessments were used to identify clients with single sensory impairments (e.g., vision only [VI], hearing only [HI]), dual sensory impairment (DSI; i.e., vision and hearing) and those with cognitive impairment (CI). We defined seven mutually exclusive groups based on the presence of single or combined impairments. Results: The rate of people having all three impairments (i.e., CI+DSI) was 21.3% in home care and 29.2% in LTC. Across the seven groups, individuals with all three impairments were the most likely to report loneliness, to have a reduction in social engagement, and to experience reduced independence in their activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental ADLs (IADLs). Communication challenges were highly prevalent in this group, at 38.0% in home care and 49.2% in LTC. In both care settings, communication difficulties were more common in the CI+DSI group versus the CI-alone group. Conclusions: The presence of combined sensory and cognitive impairments is high among older adults in these two care settings and having all three impairments is associated with higher rates of negative outcomes than the rates for those having CI alone. There is a rising imperative for all health care professionals to recognize the potential presence of hearing, vision and cognitive impairments in those for whom they provide care, to ensure that basic screening occurs and to use those results to inform care plans

Efficient photoionization for barium ion trapping using a dipole-allowed resonant two-photon transition

Two efficient and isotope-selective resonant two-photon ionization techniques for loading barium ions into radio-frequency (RF)-traps are demonstrated. The scheme of using a strong dipole-allowed transition at \lambda=553 nm as a first step towards ionization is compared to the established technique of using a weak intercombination line (\lambda=413 nm). An increase of two orders of magnitude in the ionization efficiency is found favoring the transition at 553 nm. This technique can be implemented using commercial all-solid-state laser systems and is expected to be advantageous compared to other narrowband photoionization schemes of barium in cases where highest efficiency and isotope-selectivity are required.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

NN,N\Delta Couplings and the Quark Model

We examine mass-corrected SU(6) symmetry predictions in the quark model relating vector, axial-vector and strong NN and N\Delta couplings, and demonstrate that the experimental N\Delta value is significantly higher than predicted in each case. Nevertheless the Goldberger-Treiman relation is satisfied in both sectors. Possible origins of the discrepancy of the quark model predictions with experiment are discussed.Comment: 22 pg. Latex file, figures available by reques