3,809 research outputs found
Awareness, requirements and barriers to use of Assistive Technology designed to enable independence of people suffering from Dementia (ATD)
This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright @ 2012 IOS PressThis study investigated the awareness and use of assistive technology for people with dementia. The aim of the study was to explore barriers to the uptake of, and the unmet needs for, assistive technology for dementia (ATD) The work was carried out with family carers of people with dementia because carers are often the purchasers, end users and main beneficiaries of this type of technology. Focus groups were used to explore carers’ views on ATD use, and the problems that might be addressed by ATD, in order to develop a questionnaire for dementia carers. The questionnaire was administered at Alzheimer’s Society carer support groups in South Bucks and in Hillingdon Borough (UK). None of the 16 focus group participants or the 42 respondents to the questionnaire had any personal experience of ATD. The dementia carers reported a number of concerns, problems and unmet needs that could be addressed by existing, commercially available ATD products. Some needs for new technology development were identified in the study, but the lack of awareness of ATD appears to be the most important barrier to technology adoption
Beam Energy Considerations for Gold Nano-Particle Enhanced Radiation Treatment
Purpose: A novel approach using nano technology enhanced radiation modalities
is investigated. The proposed methodology uses antibodies labeled with
organically inert metals with a high atomic number. Irradiation using photons
with energies in the kilo--electron volt (keV) range show an increase in dose
due to a combination of an increase in photo-electric interactions and a
pronounced generation of Auger and/or Coster-Kronig (A-CK) electrons.
Methods: The dependency of the dose deposition on various factors is
investigated using Monte Carlo simulation models. The factors investigated
include: agent concentration, spectral dependency looking at mono--energetic
sources as well as classical bremsstrahlung sources. The optimization of the
energy spectrum is performed in terms of physical dose enhancement as well as
the dose deposited by Auger and/or Coster-Kronig electrons and their biological
effectiveness.
Results: A quasi-linear dependency on concentration and an exponential
decrease within the target medium is observed. The maximal dose enhancement is
dependent on the position of the target in the beam. Apart from irradiation
with low photon energies (10 - 20 keV) there is no added benefit from the
increase in generation of Auger electrons. Interestingly, a regular 110kVp
bremsstrahlung spectrum shows a comparable enhancement in comparison with the
optimized mono--energetic sources.
Conclusions: In conclusion we find that the use of nano-particle enhanced
shows promise to be implemented quite easily in regular clinic on a physical
level due to the advantageous properties in classical beams.Comment: Preprint submitted to Phys Med Bio
Urinary incontinence: A vibration alert system for detecting pad overflow
This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2011 RESNA.A sensor and electronics system is described that monitors the leakage of urine from continence pads into surrounding underwear. Urinary incontinence is involuntary loss of urine and occurs when the bladder muscles contract without warning or the sphincter muscles surrounding the urethra are too weak to prevent leakage. The system comprises a wetness sensor and electronics unit. The sensor is stitched into the underwear and detects overspills of urine from the pad. The electronics unit is attached to the underwear and responds by vibrating, signaling to the wearer that pad has failed. This system has application for individuals who use continence pads in the community, but it could also be used in care homes
Nucleotide sequence and genomic organization of an ophiovirus associated with lettuce big-vein disease
The complete nucleotide sequence of an ophiovirus associated with lettuce big-vein disease has been elucidated. The genome consisted of four RNA molecules of approximately 7ò8, 1ò7, 1ò5 and 1ò4 kb. Virus particles were shown to contain nearly equimolar amounts of RNA molecules of both polarities. The 5'- and 3'-terminal ends of the RNA molecules are largely, but not perfectly, complementary to each other. The virus genome contains seven open reading frames. Database searches with the putative viral products revealed homologies with the RNA-dependent RNA polymerases of rhabdoviruses and Ranunculus white mottle virus, and the capsid protein of Citrus psorosis virus. The gene encoding the viral polymerase appears to be located on the RNA segment 1, while the nucleocapsid protein is encoded by the RNA3. No significant sequence similarities were observed with other viral proteins. In spite of the morphological resemblance with species in the genus Tenuivirus, the ophioviruses appear not to be evolutionary closely related to this genus nor any other viral genus
On the origin of the difference between the runaway velocities of the OB-supergiant X-ray Binaries and the Be/X-ray Binaries
The recent finding by Chevalier & Ilovaisky (1998) that OB-supergiant X-ray
binaries have relatively large runaway velocities whereas Be/X-ray binaries
have low runaway velocities, provides confirmation of the current models for
the formation of these two types of systems. These predict a difference in
runaway velocity of an order of magnitude. This difference basically results
from the variation of the fractional helium core mass as a function of stellar
mass, in combination with the conservation of orbital angular momentum during
the mass transfer phase that preceded the formation of the compact object in
the system. This combination results into: (i) Systematically narrower
pre-supernova orbits in the OB-supergiant systems than in the Be-systems, and
(ii) A larger fractional amount of mass ejected in the supernovae in high-mass
systems relative to systems of lower mass. Regardless of possible kick
velocities imparted to neutron stars at birth, this combination leads to a
considerable difference in average runaway velocity between these two groups.
The observed low runaway velocities of the Be/X-ray binaries confirm that in
most cases not more than 1 to 2Msun was ejected in the supernovae that produced
their neutron stars. This, in combination with the --on average-- large orbital
eccentricities of these systems, indicates that their neutron stars must have
received a velocity kick in the range 60 - 250 km/s at birth.Comment: reduced abstract, 13 pages, accepted by A&
Forming short-period Wolf-Rayet X-ray binaries and double black holes through stable mass transfer
We show that black-hole High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) with O- or B-type
donor stars and relatively short orbital periods, of order one week to several
months may survive spiral in, to then form Wolf-Rayet (WR) X-ray binaries with
orbital periods of order a day to a few days; while in systems where the
compact star is a neutron star, HMXBs with these orbital periods never survive
spiral-in. We therefore predict that WR X-ray binaries can only harbor black
holes. The reason why black-hole HMXBs with these orbital periods may survive
spiral in is: the combination of a radiative envelope of the donor star, and a
high mass of the compact star. In this case, when the donor begins to overflow
its Roche lobe, the systems are able to spiral in slowly with stable Roche-lobe
overflow, as is shown by the system SS433. In this case the transferred mass is
ejected from the vicinity of the compact star (so-called "isotropic
re-emission" mass loss mode, or "SS433-like mass loss"), leading to gradual
spiral-in. If the mass ratio of donor and black hole is , these systems
will go into CE evolution and are less likely to survive. If they survive, they
produce WR X-ray binaries with orbital periods of a few hours to one day.
Several of the well-known WR+O binaries in our Galaxy and the Magellanic
Clouds, with orbital periods in the range between a week and several months,
are expected to evolve into close WR-Black-Hole binaries,which may later
produce close double black holes. The galactic formation rate of double black
holes resulting from such systems is still uncertain, as it depends on several
poorly known factors in this evolutionary picture. It might possibly be as high
as per year.Comment: MNRAS in pres
Complete spectrum of the infinite- Hubbard ring using group theory
We present a full analytical solution of the multiconfigurational
strongly-correlated mixed-valence problem corresponding to the -Hubbard ring
filled with electrons, and infinite on-site repulsion. While the
eigenvalues and the eigenstates of the model are known already, analytical
determination of their degeneracy is presented here for the first time. The
full solution, including degeneracy count, is achieved for each spin
configuration by mapping the Hubbard model into a set of Huckel-annulene
problems for rings of variable size. The number and size of these effective
Huckel annulenes, both crucial to obtain Hubbard states and their degeneracy,
are determined by solving a well-known combinatorial enumeration problem, the
necklace problem for beads and two colors, within each subgroup of the
permutation group. Symmetry-adapted solution of the necklace
enumeration problem is finally achieved by means of the subduction of coset
representation technique [S. Fujita, Theor. Chim. Acta 76, 247 (1989)], which
provides a general and elegant strategy to solve the one-hole infinite-
Hubbard problem, including degeneracy count, for any ring size. The proposed
group theoretical strategy to solve the infinite- Hubbard problem for
electrons, is easily generalized to the case of arbitrary electron count ,
by analyzing the permutation group and all its subgroups.Comment: 31 pages, 4 figures. Submitte
Probing Electron-Capture Supernovae: X-Ray Binaries in Starbursts
Presenting population models of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) formed after
bursts of star formation, we investigate the effect of electron-capture
supernovae (ECS) of massive ONeMg white dwarfs and the hypothesis that ECS
events are associated with typically low supernova kicks imparted to the
nascent neutron stars. We identify an interesting ECS bump in the time
evolution of HMXB numbers; this bump is caused by significantly increased
production of wind-fed HMXBs 20-60 Myr post starburst. The amplitude and age
extent of the ECS bump depend on the strength of ECS kicks and the mass range
of ECS progenitors. We also find that ECS-HMXBs form through a specific
evolutionary channel that is expected to lead to binaries with Be donors in
wide orbits. These characteristics, along with their sensitivity to ECS
properties, provide us with an intriguing opportunity to probe ECS physics and
progenitors through studies of starbursts of different ages. Specifically, the
case of the Small Magellanic Cloud, with a significant observed population of
Be HMXBs and starburst activity 30-60 Myr ago, arises as a promising laboratory
for understanding the role of electron-capture supernovae in neutron star
formation.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Published by ApJ in 07/0
Sequence analysis and genomic organization of Aphid lethal paralysis virus: a new member of the family Dicistroviridae
The complete nucleotide sequence of the genomic RNA of an aphid-infecting virus, Aphid lethal paralysis virus (ALPV), has been determined. The genome is 9812 nt in length and contains two long open reading frames (ORFs), which are separated by an intergenic region of 163 nt. The first ORF (5' ORF) is preceded by an untranslated leader sequence of 506 nt, while an untranslated region of 571 nt follows the second ORF (3' ORF). The deduced amino acid sequences of the 5' ORF and 3' ORF products respectively showed similarity to the non-structural and structural proteins of members of the newly recognized genus Cripavirus (family Dicistroviridae). On the basis of the observed sequence similarities and identical genome organization, it is proposed that ALPV belongs to this genus. Phylogenetic analysis showed that ALPV is most closely related to Rhopalosiphum padi virus, and groups in a cluster with Drosophila C virus and Cricket paralysis virus, while the other members of this genus are more distantly related. Infectivity experiments showed that ALPV can not only infect aphid species but is also able to infect the whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum, extending its host range to another family of the order Hemipter
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