Three real-space discretization techniques in electronic structure calculations

A characteristic feature of the state-of-the-art of real-space methods in electronic structure calculations is the diversity of the techniques used in the discretization of the relevant partial differential equations. In this context, the main approaches include finite-difference methods, various types of finite-elements and wavelets. This paper reports on the results of several code development projects that approach problems related to the electronic structure using these three different discretization methods. We review the ideas behind these methods, give examples of their applications, and discuss their similarities and differences.Comment: 39 pages, 10 figures, accepted to a special issue of "physica status solidi (b) - basic solid state physics" devoted to the CECAM workshop "State of the art developments and perspectives of real-space electronic structure techniques in condensed matter and molecular physics". v2: Minor stylistic and typographical changes, partly inspired by referee comment

Remembering Marikana: Public art intervention and the right to the city in Cape Town

This article investigates the role played by cultural initiatives in urban struggles in South Africa, and the emergence of public art to assert the right to the city. I explore how artistic– activist interventions engage an understanding of social justice and the right to the city in provocative visual and performance art. I demonstrate how such interventions reflect Lefebvre’s conceptualisation of the city as a space to be inhabited in an active process, which critically includes its re-imagination. The paper focuses on creative interventions in Cape Town that confronted the city’s genteel public space with the second and third anniversary of the shooting of 34 striking miners at Marikana on August 16 2012. I argue that bringing the commemoration of the massacre into the public urban space – where post-apartheid Cape Town exhibits its claim to cosmopolitanism – challenges the politics of space in South Africa. I asked, how these cultural initiatives articulate claims through reimagining the city how they engage with the intertwined politics of culture and class followed by both the city and the nation–state, and how the artistic practices contest urban citizenship in contemporary South Africa

Clinical question: Can psychosocial interventions encourage smoking cessation in people with coronary heart disease?

High‐intensity psychosocial interventions (behavioral therapeutic or self‐help programs) do appear to be more effective than usual care for increasing smoking abstinence rates at 6‐12 months in people with coronary heart disease (CHD), but the effects may not be sustained over 12 months

Clinical question: How does pentoxifylline affect outcomes in people with alcoholic hepatitis?

Low‐to‐moderate quality evidence suggests there may be a mortality benefit to adding pentoxifylline to standard care in alcoholic hepatitis patients, at the cost of increased adverse effects and a higher withdrawal rate. When comparing standard care alone with adding pentoxifylline or adding placebo to standard care, there was a reduction in mortality at 1‐6 months (257 per 1000 people taking pentoxifylline died vs. 400 per 1000 people taking placebo). Similarly hepatic‐related mortality at 1‐6 months was lower in people taking pentoxifylline (169 per 1000 people taking pentoxifylline died of hepatic complications vs. 423 per 1000 people taking placebo). Hepatic‐related morbidity (variceal bleeds at 1 month) was reported by two of the RCT including 132 patients and there were similar rates in both groups. Two trials with around 100 patients reported adverse effects, one reporting 33 events in people taking pentoxifylline vs. 15 events in people taking placebo, the other reporting a higher withdrawal rate with pentoxifylline (15% vs. 2%). None of the trials assessed quality of life

Clinical question: What are the effects of benzodiazepines in people with alcohol withdrawal?

There is moderate quality evidence that benzodiazepines reduce the risk of alcohol withdrawal seizures when compared with placebo, but not when compared with antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, or anxiolytics (combined data). Low‐quality evidence meant that conclusions on comparative rates of adverse effects between benzodiazepines and placebo or other drugs could not be drawn........