831 research outputs found
Socioeconomic status and duration and pattern of sickness absence. A 1-year follow-up study of 2331 hospital employees
BACKGROUND: Sickness absence increases with lower socioeconomic status. However, it is not well known how this relation depends on specific aspects of sickness absence or the degree to which socioeconomic differences in sickness absence may be explained by other factors. The purpose of the study was to examine differences in sickness absence among occupational groups in a large general hospital; how they depend on combinations of frequency and duration of sickness absence spells; and if they could be explained by self-reported general health, personal factors and work factors. METHODS: The design is a 1-year prospective cohort study of 2331 hospital employees. Baseline information include job title, work unit, perceived general health, work factors and personal factors recorded from hospital administrative files or by questionnaire (response rate 84%). Sickness absence during follow-up was divided into short (1-3 days), medium (4-14 days) and long (>14 days) spells, and into no absence, "normal" absence (1-3 absences of certain durations) and "abnormal" absence (any other absence than "normal"). Socioeconomic status was assessed by job titles grouped in six occupational groups by level of education (from doctors to cleaners/porters). Effects of occupational group on sickness absence were adjusted for significant effects of age, gender, general health, personal factors and work factors. We used Poisson or logistic regression analysis to estimate the effects of model covariates (rate ratios (RR) or odds ratios (OR)) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: With a few exceptions sickness absence increased with decreasing socioeconomic status. However, the social gradient was quite different for different types of sickness absence. The gradient was strong for medium spells and "abnormal" absence, and weak for all spells, short spells, long spells and "normal" absence. For cleaners compared to doctors the adjusted risk estimates increased 4.2 (95% CI 2.8-6.2) and 7.4 (95% CI 3.3-16) times for medium spells and "abnormal" absence, respectively, while the similar changes varied from 0.79 to 2.8 for the other absence outcomes. General health explained some of the social gradient. Work factors and personal factors did not. CONCLUSIONS: The social gradient in sickness absence was different for absences of different duration and patterns. It was strongest for absences of medium length and "abnormal" absence. The social gradient was not explained by other factors
A Search for Hierarchical Triples using Kepler Eclipse Timing
We present the first results of a Kepler survey of 41 eclipsing binaries that
we undertook to search for third star companions. Such tertiaries will
periodically alter the eclipse timings through light travel time and dynamical
effects. We discuss the prevalence of starspots and pulsation among these
binaries and how these phenomena influence the eclipse times. There is no
evidence of short period companions (P < 700 d) among this sample, but we do
find evidence for long term timing variations in 14 targets (34%). We argue
that this finding is consistent with the presence of tertiary companions among
a significant fraction of the targets, especially if many have orbits measured
in decades. This result supports the idea that the formation of close binaries
involves the deposition of angular momentum into the orbital motion of a third
star.Comment: AJ, in press, 104 pages, 2 figure sets plus 1 regular figur
Impacts of Land Abandonment on Vegetation: Successional Pathways in European Habitats
Changes in traditional agricultural systems in Europe in recent decades have led to widespread abandonment and colonization of various habitats by shrubs and trees. We combined several vegetation databases to test whether patterns of changes in plant diversity after land abandonment in different habitats followed similar pathways. The impacts of land abandonment and subsequent woody colonization on vegetation composition and plant traits were studied in five semi-natural open habitats and two arable habitats in six regions of Europe. For each habitat, vegetation surveys were carried out in different stages of succession using either permanent or non-permanent plots. Consecutive stages of succession were defined on a physiognomic basis from initial open stages to late woody stages. Changes in vegetation composition, species richness, numbers of species on Red Lists, plant strategy types, Ellenberg indicator values of the vegetation, Grime CSR strategy types and seven ecological traits were assessed for each stage of the successional pathway. Abandonment of agro-pastoral land-use and subsequent woody colonization were associated with changes in floristic composition. Plant richness varied according to the different habitats and stages of succession, but semi-natural habitats differed from arable fields in several ecological traits and vegetation responses. Nevertheless, succession occurred along broadly predictable pathways. Vegetation in abandoned arable fields was characterized by a decreasing importance of R-strategists, annuals, seed plants with overwintering green leaves, insect-pollinated plants with hemi-rosette morphology and plants thriving in nutrient-rich conditions, but an increase in species considered as endangered according to the Red Lists. Conversely, changes in plant traits with succession within the initially-open semi-natural habitats showed an increase in plants thriving in nutrient-rich conditions, stress-tolerant plants and plants with sexual and vegetative reproduction, but a sharp decrease in protected species. In conclusion, our study showed a set of similarities in responses of the vegetation in plant traits after land abandonment, but we also highlighted differences between arable fields and semi-natural habitats, emphasizing the importance of land-use legacy
Quality assurance in stereotactic radiosurgery/radiotherapy according to DIN 6875-1
The new DIN (' Deutsche Industrie- Norm') 6875- 1, which is currently being finalised, deals with quality assurance ( QA) criteria and tests methods for linear accelerator and Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery/ radiotherapy including treatment planning, stereotactic frame and stereotactic imaging and a system test to check the whole chain of uncertainties. Our existing QA program, based on dedicated phantoms and test procedures, has been refined to fulfill the demands of this new DIN. The radiological and mechanical isocentre corresponded within 0.2 mm and the measured 50% isodose lines were in agreement with the calculated ones within less than 0.5 mm. The measured absorbed dose was within 3%. The resultant output factors measured for the 14-, 8- and 4- mm collimator helmet were 0.9870 +/- 0.0086, 0.9578 +/- 0.0057 and 0.8741 +/- 0.0202, respectively. For 170 consecutive tests, the mean geometrical accuracy was 0.48 +/- 0.23 mm. Besides QA phantoms and analysis software developed in- house, the use of commercially available tools facilitated the QA according to the DIN 6875- 1 with which our results complied. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel
Contact binaries with additional components. III. The adaptive optics detections
We present results of the CFHT adaptive optics search for companions of a
homogeneous group of contact binary stars, as a contribution to our attempts to
prove a hypothesis that these binaries require a third star to become so close
as observed. In addition to companions directly discovered at separations of
>=1", we introduced a new method of AO image analysis utilizing distortions of
the AO diffraction ring pattern at separations of 0.07"-1". Very close
companions, with separations in the latter range were discovered in systems HV
Aqr, OO Aql, CK Boo, XY Leo, BE Scl, and RZ Tau. More distant companions were
detected in V402 Aur, AO Cam, V2082 Cyg. Our results provide a contribution to
the mounting evidence that the presence of close companions is a very common
phenomenon for very close binaries with orbital periods <1 day.Comment: Full Figs.4 and 5 are in
http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/~rucinski/Triples3
Electrostatic design and beam transport for a folded tandem electrostatic quadrupole accelerator facility for accelerator-based boron neutron capture therapy
Within the frame of an ongoing project to develop a folded Tandem-Electrostatic-Quadrupole (TESQ) accelerator facility for Accelerator-Based Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (AB-BNCT), we discuss here the electrostatic design of the machine, including the accelerator tubes with electrostatic quadrupoles and the simulations for the transport and acceleration of a high intensity beam.Fil: Thatar Vento, Vladimir. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Bergueiro, Javier R.. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Cartelli, Daniel Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Valda Ochoa, Alejandro Aníbal. Universidad Nacional de San Martín; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Kreiner, Andres Juan. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentin
Playing Ping Pong with Light: Directional Emission of White Light
Over the last decades, light-emitting diodes (LED) have replaced common light bulbs in almost every application, from flashlights in smartphones to automotive headlights. Illuminating nightly streets requires LEDs to emit a light spectrum that is perceived as pure white by the human eye. The power associated with such a white light spectrum is not only distributed over the contributing wavelengths but also over the angles of vision. For many applications, the usable light rays are required to exit the LED in forward direction, namely under small angles to the perpendicular. In this work, we demonstrate that a specifically designed multi-layer thin film on top of a white LED increases the power of pure white light emitted in forward direction. Therefore, the deduced multi-objective optimization problem is reformulated via a real-valued physics-guided objective function that represents the hierarchical structure of our engineering problem. Variants of Bayesian optimization are employed to maximize this non-deterministic objective function based on ray tracing simulations. Eventually, the investigation of optical properties of suitable multi-layer thin films allowed to identify the mechanism behind the increased directionality of white light: angle and wavelength selective filtering causes the multi-layer thin film to play ping pong with rays of light
A study of the interacting binary V 393 Scorpii
We present high resolution J-band spectroscopy of V 393 Sco obtained with the
CRIRES at the ESO Paranal Observatory along with a discussion of archival IUE
spectra and published broad band magnitudes. The best fit to the spectral
energy distribution outside eclipse gives = 19000 500 for the
gainer, = 7250 300 for the donor, = 0.13 0.02
mag. and a distance of = 523 60 pc, although circumstellar material
was not considered in the fit. We argue that V 393 Sco is not a member of the
open cluster M7. The shape of the He I 1083 nm line shows orbital modulations
that can be interpreted in terms of an optically thick pseudo-photosphere
mimicking a hot B-type star and relatively large equatorial mass loss through
the Lagrangian L3 point during long cycle minimum. IUE spectra show several
(usually asymmetric) absorption lines from highly ionized metals and a narrow
L emission core on a broad absorption profile. The overall behavior of
these lines suggests the existence of a wind at intermediate latitudes. From
the analysis of the radial velocities we find = 0.24 0.02
and a mass function of = 4.76 0.24 M. Our observations favor
equatorial mass loss rather than high latitude outflows as the cause for the
long variability.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures, 7 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS,
main journa
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