1,296 research outputs found
Embolisation for Vascular Injuries Complicating Elective Orthopaedic Surgery
AbstractObjectivesThe study aims to present the indications and emphasise the role of embolisation for vascular injuries in orthopaedic surgery.MethodsThirty-one patients with vascular injuries complicating elective orthopaedic surgery had embolisation from 2003 to 2010. N-2-butyl cyano-acrylate (NBCA) was used as embolic agent in 28 patients, gelatin sponge in three and coil embolisation in addition to NBCA or gelatin sponge in two patients. The mean follow-up period was 37 months (range, 4–96 months).ResultsThe most common orthopaedic operations associated with vascular injuries amenable to embolisation were hip-joint procedures; and the most common injuries were arterial tears of branch vessels or non-critical axial vessels, most commonly of the superior glutaeal artery. In all cases, angiography showed the bleeding point, and a single embolisation session effectively stopped bleeding. Embolisation-related complications were not observed.ConclusionsEmbolisation should be considered the treatment of choice for vascular injuries of branch vessels or non-critical axial vessels following elective orthopaedic surgery because of the advantages of minimally invasive therapy and the lack of complications
Study of solid 4He in two dimensions. The issue of zero-point defects and study of confined crystal
Defects are believed to play a fundamental role in the supersolid state of
4He. We report on studies by exact Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations at
zero temperature of the properties of solid 4He in presence of many vacancies,
up to 30 in two dimensions (2D). In all studied cases the crystalline order is
stable at least as long as the concentration of vacancies is below 2.5%. In the
2D system for a small number, n_v, of vacancies such defects can be identified
in the crystalline lattice and are strongly correlated with an attractive
interaction. On the contrary when n_v~10 vacancies in the relaxed system
disappear and in their place one finds dislocations and a revival of the
Bose-Einstein condensation. Thus, should zero-point motion defects be present
in solid 4He, such defects would be dislocations and not vacancies, at least in
2D. In order to avoid using periodic boundary conditions we have studied the
exact ground state of solid 4He confined in a circular region by an external
potential. We find that defects tend to be localized in an interfacial region
of width of about 15 A. Our computation allows to put as upper bound limit to
zero--point defects the concentration 0.003 in the 2D system close to melting
density.Comment: 17 pages, accepted for publication in J. Low Temp. Phys., Special
Issue on Supersolid
Methylglyoxal, Glycated Albumin, PAF, and TNF-α: Possible Inflammatory and Metabolic Biomarkers for Management of Gestational Diabetes
Background: In gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), pancreatic \u3b2-cell breakdown can result from a proinflammatory imbalance created by a sustained level of cytokines. In this study, we investigated the role of specific cytokines, such as B-cell activating factor (BAFF), tumor necrosis factor \u3b1 (TNF-\u3b1), and platelet-activating factor (PAF), together with methylglyoxal (MGO) and glycated albumin (GA) in pregnant women affected by GDM.
Methods: We enrolled 30 women whose inflammation and metabolic markers were measured at recruitment and after 12 weeks of strict dietetic therapy. We compared these data to the data obtained from 53 randomly selected healthy nonpregnant subjects without diabetes, hyperglycemia, or any condition that can affect glycemic metabolism.
Results: In pregnant women affected by GDM, PAF levels increased from 26.3 (17.4-47.5) ng/mL to 40.1 (30.5-80.5) ng/mL (p < 0.001). Their TNF-\u3b1 levels increased from 3.0 (2.8-3.5) pg/mL to 3.4 (3.1-5.8) pg/mL (p < 0.001). The levels of methylglyoxal were significantly higher in the women with GDM (p < 0.001), both at diagnosis and after 12 weeks (0.64 (0.46-0.90) \u3bcg/mL; 0.71 (0.47-0.93) \u3bcg/mL, respectively) compared to general population (0.25 (0.19-0.28) \u3bcg/mL). Levels of glycated albumin were significantly higher in women with GDM (p < 0.001) only after 12 weeks from diagnosis (1.51 (0.88-2.03) nmol/mL) compared to general population (0.95 (0.63-1.4) nmol/mL).
Conclusion: These findings support the involvement of new inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers in the mechanisms related to GDM complications and prompt deeper exploration into the vicious cycle connecting inflammation, oxidative stress, and metabolic results
A Green's function approach to transmission of massless Dirac fermions in graphene through an array of random scatterers
We consider the transmission of massless Dirac fermions through an array of
short range scatterers which are modeled as randomly positioned -
function like potentials along the x-axis. We particularly discuss the
interplay between disorder-induced localization that is the hallmark of a
non-relativistic system and two important properties of such massless Dirac
fermions, namely, complete transmission at normal incidence and periodic
dependence of transmission coefficient on the strength of the barrier that
leads to a periodic resonant transmission. This leads to two different types of
conductance behavior as a function of the system size at the resonant and the
off-resonance strengths of the delta function potential. We explain this
behavior of the conductance in terms of the transmission through a pair of such
barriers using a Green's function based approach. The method helps to
understand such disordered transport in terms of well known optical phenomena
such as Fabry Perot resonances.Comment: 22 double spaced single column pages. 15 .eps figure
Zero-point vacancies in quantum solids
A Jastrow wave function (JWF) and a shadow wave function (SWF) describe a
quantum solid with Bose--Einstein condensate; i.e. a supersolid. It is known
that both JWF and SWF describe a quantum solid with also a finite equilibrium
concentration of vacancies x_v. We outline a route for estimating x_v by
exploiting the existing formal equivalence between the absolute square of the
ground state wave function and the Boltzmann weight of a classical solid. We
compute x_v for the quantum solids described by JWF and SWF employing very
accurate numerical techniques. For JWF we find a very small value for the zero
point vacancy concentration, x_v=(1.4\pm0.1) x 10^-6. For SWF, which presently
gives the best variational description of solid 4He, we find the significantly
larger value x_v=(1.4\pm0.1) x 10^-3 at a density close to melting. We also
study two and three vacancies. We find that there is a strong short range
attraction but the vacancies do not form a bound state.Comment: 19 pages, submitted to J. Low Temp. Phy
Defects and glassy dynamics in solid He-4: Perspectives and current status
We review the anomalous behavior of solid He-4 at low temperatures with
particular attention to the role of structural defects present in solid. The
discussion centers around the possible role of two level systems and structural
glassy components for inducing the observed anomalies. We propose that the
origin of glassy behavior is due to the dynamics of defects like dislocations
formed in He-4. Within the developed framework of glassy components in a solid,
we give a summary of the results and predictions for the effects that cover the
mechanical, thermodynamic, viscoelastic, and electro-elastic contributions of
the glassy response of solid He-4. Our proposed glass model for solid He-4 has
several implications: (1) The anomalous properties of He-4 can be accounted for
by allowing defects to freeze out at lowest temperatures. The dynamics of solid
He-4 is governed by glasslike (glassy) relaxation processes and the
distribution of relaxation times varies significantly between different
torsional oscillator, shear modulus, and dielectric function experiments. (2)
Any defect freeze-out will be accompanied by thermodynamic signatures
consistent with entropy contributions from defects. It follows that such
entropy contribution is much smaller than the required superfluid fraction, yet
it is sufficient to account for excess entropy at lowest temperatures. (3) We
predict a Cole-Cole type relation between the real and imaginary part of the
response functions for rotational and planar shear that is occurring due to the
dynamics of defects. Similar results apply for other response functions. (4)
Using the framework of glassy dynamics, we predict low-frequency yet to be
measured electro-elastic features in defect rich He-4 crystals. These
predictions allow one to directly test the ideas and very presence of glassy
contributions in He-4.Comment: 33 pages, 13 figure
25th-order high-temperature expansion results for three-dimensional Ising-like systems on the simple cubic lattice
25th-order high-temperature series are computed for a general
nearest-neighbor three-dimensional Ising model with arbitrary potential on the
simple cubic lattice. In particular, we consider three improved potentials
characterized by suppressed leading scaling corrections. Critical exponents are
extracted from high-temperature series specialized to improved potentials,
obtaining , , ,
, , . Moreover, biased
analyses of the 25th-order series of the standard Ising model provide the
estimate for the exponent associated with the leading scaling
corrections. By the same technique, we study the small-magnetization expansion
of the Helmholtz free energy. The results are then applied to the construction
of parametric representations of the critical equation of state, using a
systematic approach based on a global stationarity condition. Accurate
estimates of several universal amplitude ratios are also presented.Comment: 40 pages, 15 figure
The ARGO-YBJ Experiment Progresses and Future Extension
Gamma ray source detection above 30TeV is an encouraging approach for finding
galactic cosmic ray origins. All sky survey for gamma ray sources using wide
field of view detector is essential for population accumulation for various
types of sources above 100GeV. To target the goals, the ARGO-YBJ experiment has
been established. Significant progresses have been made in the experiment. A
large air shower detector array in an area of 1km2 is proposed to boost the
sensitivity. Hybrid detection with multi-techniques will allow a good
discrimination between different types of primary particles, including photons
and protons, thus enable an energy spectrum measurement for individual specie.
Fluorescence light detector array will extend the spectrum measurement above
100PeV where the second knee is located. An energy scale determined by balloon
experiments at 10TeV will be propagated to ultra high energy cosmic ray
experiments
Dust Devil Tracks
Dust devils that leave dark- or light-toned tracks are common on Mars and they can also be found on the Earth’s surface. Dust devil tracks (hereinafter DDTs) are ephemeral surface features with mostly sub-annual lifetimes. Regarding their size, DDT widths can range between ∼1 m and ∼1 km, depending on the diameter of dust devil that created the track, and DDT lengths range from a few tens of meters to several kilometers, limited by the duration and horizontal ground speed of dust devils. DDTs can be classified into three main types based on their morphology and albedo in contrast to their surroundings; all are found on both planets: (a) dark continuous DDTs, (b) dark cycloidal DDTs, and (c) bright DDTs. Dark continuous DDTs are the most common type on Mars. They are characterized by their relatively homogenous and continuous low albedo surface tracks. Based on terrestrial and martian in situ studies, these DDTs most likely form when surficial dust layers are removed to expose larger-grained substrate material (coarse sands of ≥500 μm in diameter). The exposure of larger-grained materials changes the photometric properties of the surface; hence leading to lower albedo tracks because grain size is photometrically inversely proportional to the surface reflectance. However, although not observed so far, compositional differences (i.e., color differences) might also lead to albedo contrasts when dust is removed to expose substrate materials with mineralogical differences. For dark continuous DDTs, albedo drop measurements are around 2.5 % in the wavelength range of 550–850 nm on Mars and around 0.5 % in the wavelength range from 300–1100 nm on Earth. The removal of an equivalent layer thickness around 1 μm is sufficient for the formation of visible dark continuous DDTs on Mars and Earth. The next type of DDTs, dark cycloidal DDTs, are characterized by their low albedo pattern of overlapping scallops. Terrestrial in situ studies imply that they are formed when sand-sized material that is eroded from the outer vortex area of a dust devil is redeposited in annular patterns in the central vortex region. This type of DDT can also be found in on Mars in orbital image data, and although in situ studies are lacking, terrestrial analog studies, laboratory work, and numerical modeling suggest they have the same formation mechanism as those on Earth. Finally, bright DDTs are characterized by their continuous track pattern and high albedo compared to their undisturbed surroundings. They are found on both planets, but to date they have only been analyzed in situ on Earth. Here, the destruction of aggregates of dust, silt and sand by dust devils leads to smooth surfaces in contrast to the undisturbed rough surfaces surrounding the track. The resulting change in photometric properties occurs because the smoother surfaces have a higher reflectance compared to the surrounding rough surface, leading to bright DDTs. On Mars, the destruction of surficial dust-aggregates may also lead to bright DDTs. However, higher reflective surfaces may be produced by other formation mechanisms, such as dust compaction by passing dust devils, as this may also cause changes in photometric properties. On Mars, DDTs in general are found at all elevations and on a global scale, except on the permanent polar caps. DDT maximum areal densities occur during spring and summer in both hemispheres produced by an increase in dust devil activity caused by maximum insolation. Regionally, dust devil densities vary spatially likely controlled by changes in dust cover thicknesses and substrate materials. This variability makes it difficult to infer dust devil activity from DDT frequencies. Furthermore, only a fraction of dust devils leave tracks. However, DDTs can be used as proxies for dust devil lifetimes and wind directions and speeds, and they can also be used to predict lander or rover solar panel clearing events. Overall, the high DDT frequency in many areas on Mars leads to drastic albedo changes that affect large-scale weather patterns
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