5,279 research outputs found
A Qualitative Analysis of Motivators to Participation in Suicide-Focused Research from a Community-Based Australian Sample
Suicide prevention strategies internationally appear to be falling short of making a meaningful impact on global suicide deaths. Increasing the rates of general community participation in suicide research may improve knowledge generalisability as it relates to suicidal behaviour and leads to new suicide prevention approaches. This study aims to explore the motivations of a community-based sample to participate in suicide research. A subsample of the Australian general population took part in an online survey which is part of a multilevel suicide prevention trial. The survey concluded with an optional open-text question asking about peoples’ motivations for participating in the study; 532 participants left a response to this question. These responses were qualitatively analysed using Thematic Network Analysis. Motivations to participate in suicide research were represented by four global themes: altruism, solve systemic problems, lived experience, and personal benefit. Of these themes, three were focused on the benefit of others, while only the final theme articulated motivation to participate that was self-focused. The impact of suicide is felt throughout the wider community. This new understanding of the motivations of community-based samples to participate in suicide research should be used to increase participation rates and reach people who would not normally contribute their voice to suicide researc
Neural development features: Spatio-temporal development of the Caenorhabditis elegans neuronal network
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, with information on neural connectivity,
three-dimensional position and cell linage provides a unique system for
understanding the development of neural networks. Although C. elegans has been
widely studied in the past, we present the first statistical study from a
developmental perspective, with findings that raise interesting suggestions on
the establishment of long-distance connections and network hubs. Here, we
analyze the neuro-development for temporal and spatial features, using birth
times of neurons and their three-dimensional positions. Comparisons of growth
in C. elegans with random spatial network growth highlight two findings
relevant to neural network development. First, most neurons which are linked by
long-distance connections are born around the same time and early on,
suggesting the possibility of early contact or interaction between connected
neurons during development. Second, early-born neurons are more highly
connected (tendency to form hubs) than later born neurons. This indicates that
the longer time frame available to them might underlie high connectivity. Both
outcomes are not observed for random connection formation. The study finds that
around one-third of electrically coupled long-range connections are late
forming, raising the question of what mechanisms are involved in ensuring their
accuracy, particularly in light of the extremely invariant connectivity
observed in C. elegans. In conclusion, the sequence of neural network
development highlights the possibility of early contact or interaction in
securing long-distance and high-degree connectivity
Non-universal minimal Z' models: present bounds and early LHC reach
We consider non-universal 'minimal' Z' models, whose additional U(1) charge
is a non-anomalous linear combination of the weak hypercharge Y, the baryon
number B and the partial lepton numbers (L_e, L_mu, L_tau), with no exotic
fermions beyond three standard families with right-handed neutrinos. We show
that the observed pattern of neutrino masses and mixing can be fully reproduced
by a gauge-invariant renormalizable Lagrangian, and flavor-changing neutral
currents in the charged lepton sector are suppressed by a GIM mechanism. We
then discuss the phenomenology of some benchmark models. The electrophilic
B-3L_e model is significantly constrained by electroweak precision tests, but
still allows to fit the hint of an excess observed by CDF in dielectrons but
not in dimuons. The muonphilic B-3L_mu model is very mildly constrained by
electroweak precision tests, so that even the very early phase of the LHC can
explore significant areas of parameter space. We also discuss the hadrophobic
L_mu-L_tau model, which has recently attracted interest in connection with some
puzzling features of cosmic ray spectra.Comment: 29 pages, 13 figure
Extension of non-minimal derivative coupling theory and Hawking radiation in black-hole spacetime
We study the greybody factor and Hawking radiation with a non-minimal
derivative coupling between the scalar field and the curvature in the
background of the slowly rotating Kerr-Newman black hole.
Our results show that both the absorption probability and luminosity of
Hawking radiation of the scalar field increase with the coupling.
Moreover, we also find that for the weak coupling , the
absorption probability and luminosity of Hawking radiation decrease when the
black hole's Hawking temperature decreases; while for stronger coupling
, the absorption probability and luminosity of Hawking radiation
increase on the contrary when the black hole's Hawking temperature decreases.
This feature is similar to the Hawking radiation in a -dimensional static
spherically-symmetric black hole surrounded by quintessence \cite{chensong}.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, Title changed, Appendix changed,
accepted by JHE
An elitist quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithm for the flexible job-shop scheduling problem
The flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP) is vital to manufacturers especially in today’s constantly changing environment. It is a strongly NP-hard problem and therefore metaheuristics or heuristics are usually pursued to solve it. Most of the existing metaheuristics and heuristics, however, have low efficiency in convergence speed. To overcome this drawback, this paper develops an elitist quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithm. The algorithm aims to minimise the maximum completion time (makespan). It performs a global search with the quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithm and a local search with a method that is inspired by the motion mechanism of the electrons around an atomic nucleus. Three novel algorithms are proposed and their effect on the whole search is discussed. The elitist strategy is adopted to prevent the optimal solution from being destroyed during the evolutionary process. The results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the best-known algorithms for FJSPs on most of the FJSP benchmarks
An alginate-layer technique for culture of Brassica oleracea L. protoplasts
Ten accessions belonging to the Brassica oleracea subspecies alba and rubra, and to B. oleracea var. sabauda were used in this study. Protoplasts were isolated from leaves and hypocotyls of in vitro grown plants. The influence of selected factors on the yield, viability, and mitotic activity of protoplasts immobilized in calcium alginate layers was investigated. The efficiency of protoplast isolation from hypocotyls was lower (0.7 ± 0.1 × 106 ml−1) than for protoplasts isolated from leaf mesophyll tissue (2 ± 0.1 × 106 ml−1). High (70–90%) viabilities of immobilized protoplasts were recorded, independent of the explant sources. The highest proportion of protoplasts undergoing divisions was noted for cv. Reball F1, both from mesophyll (29.8 ± 2.2%) and hypocotyl (17.5 ± 0.3%) tissues. Developed colonies of callus tissue were subjected to regeneration and as a result plants from six accessions were obtained
Reasons given by general practitioners for non-treatment decisions in younger and older patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus in the United Kingdom: a survey study
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Older patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus are less likely to receive antihyperglycaemic therapy compared to their younger counterparts. The purpose of this study was to assess the reasons of general practitioners (GPs) for not treating younger and older patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus with antihyperglycaemic agents.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a survey conducted between November 2009 and January 2010, 358 GPs from the United Kingdom selected reasons for not initiating antihyperglycaemic therapy in younger (< 65 years) and older (≥65 years) patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus and untreated with any antihyperglycaemic agent for at least six months following diagnosis. Thirty-six potential reasons were classified into four major categories: <it>Mild hyperglycaemia</it>, <it>Factors related to antihyperglycaemic agents</it>, <it>Comorbidities and polypharmacy</it>, and <it>Patient-related reasons</it>. Reasons for non-treatment were compared between younger (n = 1, 023) and older (n = 1, 005) patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Non-treatment reasons related to <it>Mild hyperglycaemia </it>were selected more often by GPs for both younger (88%) and older (86%) patients than those in other categories. For older patients, <it>Factors related to antihyperglycaemic agents </it>(46% vs. 38%) and <it>Comorbidities and polypharmacy </it>(33% vs. 19%), both including safety-related issues, were selected significantly (p < 0.001) more often by GPs. No between-group difference was observed for the <it>Patient-related reasons </it>category. The GP-reported HbA<sub>1c </sub>threshold for initiating antihyperglycaemic therapy was significantly (p < 0.001) lower for younger patients (mean ± standard deviation: 7.3% ± 0.7) compared to older patients (7.5% ± 0.9).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>GPs selected reasons related to <it>Mild hyperglycaemia </it>for non-treatment of their untreated patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus, despite nearly one-third of these patients having their most recent HbA<sub>1c </sub>value ≥7%. The findings further suggest that safety-related issues may influence the non-treatment of older patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.</p
Observation of a One-Dimensional Spin-Orbit Gap in a Quantum Wire
Understanding the flow of spins in magnetic layered structures has enabled an
increase in data storage density in hard drives over the past decade of more
than two orders of magnitude1. Following this remarkable success, the field of
'spintronics' or spin-based electronics is moving beyond effects based on local
spin polarisation and is turning its attention to spin-orbit interaction (SOI)
effects, which hold promise for the production, detection and manipulation of
spin currents, allowing coherent transmission of information within a device.
While SOI-induced spin transport effects have been observed in two- and
three-dimensional samples, these have been subtle and elusive, often detected
only indirectly in electrical transport or else with more sophisticated
techniques. Here we present the first observation of a predicted 'spin-orbit
gap' in a one-dimensional sample, where counter-propagating spins, constituting
a spin current, are accompanied by a clear signal in the easily-measured linear
conductance of the system.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, supplementary informatio
Population Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling for the Human Lactational Transfer of PCB-153 with Consideration of Worldwide Human Biomonitoring Results
[[abstract]]Background: One of the most serious human health concerns related to environmental contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is the presence of these chemicals in breast milk. Objectives: We developed a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model of PCB-153 in women, and predict its transfer via lactation to infants. The model is the first human, population-scale lactational model for PCB-153. Data in the literature provided estimates for model development and for performance assessment. Methods: We used physiologic parameters from a cohort in Taiwan and reference values given in the literature to estimate partition coefficients based on chemical structure and the lipid content in various body tissues. Using exposure data from Japan, we predicted acquired body burden of PCB-153 at an average childbearing age of 25 years and compared predictions to measurements from studies in multiple countries. We attempted one example of reverse dosimetry modeling using our PBPK model for possible exposure scenarios in Canadian Inuits, the population with the highest breast milk PCB-153 level in the world. Results: Forward-model predictions agree well with human biomonitoring measurements, as represented by summary statistics and uncertainty estimates. Conclusion: The model successfully describes the range of possible PCB-153 dispositions in maternal milk, suggesting a promising option for back-estimating doses for various populations
Multi-Regge kinematics and the moduli space of Riemann spheres with marked points
We show that scattering amplitudes in planar N = 4 Super Yang-Mills in
multi-Regge kinematics can naturally be expressed in terms of single-valued
iterated integrals on the moduli space of Riemann spheres with marked points.
As a consequence, scattering amplitudes in this limit can be expressed as
convolutions that can easily be computed using Stokes' theorem. We apply this
framework to MHV amplitudes to leading-logarithmic accuracy (LLA), and we prove
that at L loops all MHV amplitudes are determined by amplitudes with up to L +
4 external legs. We also investigate non-MHV amplitudes, and we show that they
can be obtained by convoluting the MHV results with a certain helicity flip
kernel. We classify all leading singularities that appear at LLA in the Regge
limit for arbitrary helicity configurations and any number of external legs.
Finally, we use our new framework to obtain explicit analytic results at LLA
for all MHV amplitudes up to five loops and all non-MHV amplitudes with up to
eight external legs and four loops.Comment: 104 pages, six awesome figures and ancillary files containing the
results in Mathematica forma
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