660 research outputs found
A proportionate study of cancer mortality among members of a vegetarian society.
A proportionate study was carried out of the causes of death of the 759 Vegetarian Society members whose deaths were recorded in Society records and whose death certificates could be traced. Compared to the general population, a lower proportion of deaths from respiratory diseases and from lung cancer was noted particularly in long-standing members, consistent with the evidence that vegetarians smoke less than the average. The proportion of deaths from colorectal cancer was slightly lower than in the general population but there was no reduction in the proportions of deaths from other diseases that have been linked with meat or fat consumption, such as cardiovascular diseases and breast cancer. The proportions of deaths from stomach cancer and from accidents and violence were greater than expected. The significance of the findings is discussed and also the possible limitations of the proportionate method of analysis in relation to studies of vegetarians
The Use of Local Mineral Formulas as a Feed Block Supplement for Beef Cattle Fed on Wild Forages
The present research was carried out to study the diversity of mineral contents of wild forages and to evaluate the beneficial effect of mineral feed supplement formulated by using locally available materials on the performances of beef cattle. The present research was initiated by analyzing mineral contents of wild forages grown around Limau Manis campus areas. Forage samples were collected at 9 sampling areas scattered at plantation, conservation and idle lands. Samples were then analyzed for macro minerals of Ca, P, Mg, K, Na, and S and micro minerals of Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Se, and Zn. Feeding trial was then conducted to evaluate the beneficial effect of supplementation of local mineral formulas (LMF) produced by using locally available materials on the performances of cattle. Feeding trial was conducted for 6 weeks by using 9 Simmentals cross bred heifers. The trial consisted of 3 treatments, i.e., P1: only grass without supplementation, P2: grass + LMF and P3: grass + mineral premix enriched LMF. Variables measured were: body weight, feed intake, FCR, feed cost and net return. Results showed that the highest macro mineral content of wild forages was Na of about 13.05±2.22 g/kg, varied from 4.1 to 23.8 g/kg, followed by K (11.09±1.43 g/kg) and Ca (6.10±1.09 g/kg DM). Three minerals of Mg, P, and S were found in relatively small concentrations of 1.34±0.30, 0.83±0.23, and 0.17±0.01 g/kg, respectively. Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn were found in relatively high concentrations. The highest concentration of micro minerals was Fe of about 613.8±128.9 mg/kg, followed by Mn of 143.9±23.3 mg/kg, while Zn and Cu were found in relatively small amount of about 31.3±5.5 and 13.2±2.5 mg/kg, respectively. Heifers supplemented with LMF (P2) and mineral premix enriched LMF (P3) showed higher body weight gain, lower FCR and net return than those cattle fed only grass (P1). The most profitable feeding strategy was by supplementation of heifers with mineral premix enriched LMF.Key words: wild forage quality, local mineral formula, ruminant mineral nutritio
57-Fe Mossbauer study of magnetic ordering in superconducting K_0.85Fe_1.83Se_2.09 single crystals
The magnetic ordering of superconducting single crystals of
K_0.85Fe_1.83Se_2.09 has been studied between 10K and 550K using 57-Fe
Mossbauer spectroscopy. Despite being superconducting below T_sc ~30K, the iron
sublattice in K_0.85Fe_1.83Se_2.09 clearly exhibits magnetic order from well
below T_sc to its N\'eel temperature of T_N = 532 +/- 2K. The iron moments are
ordered perpendicular to the single crystal plates, i.e. parallel to the
crystal c-axis. The order collapses rapidly above 500K and the accompanying
growth of a paramagnetic component suggests that the magnetic transition may be
first order, which may explain the unusual temperature dependence reported in
recent neutron diffraction studies.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures Submitted to Phys.Rev.
How to Spread a Rumor: Call Your Neighbors or Take a Walk?
We study the problem of randomized information dissemination in networks. We
compare the now standard PUSH-PULL protocol, with agent-based alternatives
where information is disseminated by a collection of agents performing
independent random walks. In the VISIT-EXCHANGE protocol, both nodes and agents
store information, and each time an agent visits a node, the two exchange all
the information they have. In the MEET-EXCHANGE protocol, only the agents store
information, and exchange their information with each agent they meet.
We consider the broadcast time of a single piece of information in an
-node graph for the above three protocols, assuming a linear number of
agents that start from the stationary distribution. We observe that there are
graphs on which the agent-based protocols are significantly faster than
PUSH-PULL, and graphs where the converse is true. We attribute the good
performance of agent-based algorithms to their inherently fair bandwidth
utilization, and conclude that, in certain settings, agent-based information
dissemination, separately or in combination with PUSH-PULL, can significantly
improve the broadcast time.
The graphs considered above are highly non-regular. Our main technical result
is that on any regular graph of at least logarithmic degree, PUSH-PULL and
VISIT-EXCHANGE have the same asymptotic broadcast time. The proof uses a novel
coupling argument which relates the random choices of vertices in PUSH-PULL
with the random walks in VISIT-EXCHANGE. Further, we show that the broadcast
time of MEET-EXCHANGE is asymptotically at least as large as the other two's on
all regular graphs, and strictly larger on some regular graphs.
As far as we know, this is the first systematic and thorough comparison of
the running times of these very natural information dissemination protocols.The authors would like to thank Thomas Sauerwald and Nicol\'{a}s Rivera for helpful discussions.
This research was undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from
the ANR Project PAMELA (ANR-16-CE23-0016-01),
the NSF Award Numbers CCF-1461559, CCF-0939370 and CCF-18107,
the Gates Cambridge Scholarship programme,
and the ERC grant DYNAMIC MARCH
Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling of a Fluxon in a Long Josephson Junction
Macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) for a single fluxon moving along a long
Josephson junction is studied theoretically. To introduce a fluxon-pinning
force, we consider inhomogeneities made by modifying thickness of an insulating
layer locally. Two different situations are studied: one is the quantum
tunneling from a metastable state caused by a single inhomogeneity, and the
other is the quantum tunneling in a two-state system made by two
inhomogeneities. In the quantum tunneling from a metastable state, the decay
rate is estimated within the WKB approximation. Dissipation effects on a fluxon
dynamics are taken into account by the Caldeira-Leggett theory. We propose a
device to observe quantum tunneling of a fluxon experimentally. Required
experimental resolutions to observe MQT of a fluxon seem attainable within the
presently available micro-fabrication technique. For the two-state system, we
study quantum resonance between two stable states, i.e., macroscopic quantum
coherence (MQC). From the estimate for dissipation coefficients due to
quasiparticle tunneling, the observation of MQC appears to be possible within
the Caldeira-Leggett theory.Comment: 30 pages LaTeX including 11 PS figures, using jpsj.sty. To be
published on J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Overestimates for damping amplitude is
correcte
Charge Solitons in 1-D Arrays of Serially Coupled Josephson Junctions
We study a 1-D array of Josephson coupled superconducting grains with kinetic
inductance which dominates over the Josephson inductance. In this limit the
dynamics of excess Cooper pairs in the array is described in terms of charge
solitons, created by polarization of the grains. We analyze the dynamics of
these topological excitations, which are dual to the fluxons in a long
Josephson junction, using the continuum sine-Gordon model. We find that their
classical relativistic motion leads to saturation branches in the I-V
characteristic of the array. We then discuss the semi-classical quantization of
the charge soliton, and show that it is consistent with the large kinetic
inductance of the array. We study the dynamics of a quantum charge soliton in a
ring-shaped array biased by an external flux through its center. If the
dephasing length of the quantum charge soliton is larger than the circumference
of the array, quantum phenomena like persistent current and coherent current
oscillations are expected. As the characteristic width of the charge soliton is
of the order of 100 microns, it is a macroscopic quantum object. We discuss the
dephasing mechanisms which can suppress the quantum behaviour of the charge
soliton.Comment: 26 pages, LaTex, 7 Postscript figure
Quantum Manipulations of Small Josephson Junctions
Low-capacitance Josephson junction arrays in the parameter range where single
charges can be controlled are suggested as possible physical realizations of
the elements which have been considered in the context of quantum computers. We
discuss single and multiple quantum bit systems. The systems are controlled by
applied gate voltages, which also allow the necessary manipulation of the
quantum states. We estimate that the phase coherence time is sufficiently long
for experimental demonstration of the principles of quantum computation.Comment: RevTex, 15 pages,4 postscript figures, uuencoded, submitted to Phys.
Rev. Lett., estimates of the experimental parameters correcte
Geographical variation in mortality from leukaemia and other cancers in England and Wales in relation to proximity to nuclear installations, 1969-78.
The distribution of mortality from 11 causes of death (lymphoid leukaemia, other leukaemia, leukaemia of all types, Hodgkin's disease, other lymphomas, all lymphomas, multiple myeloma, lung cancer, other malignancies, all malignancies and all other causes) has been examined in three age groups throughout England and Wales over the period 1969-78. The reorganisation of local authority administration in 1974 meant that the smallest areas that could be examined were 400 county districts or (in some cases) approximate county districts formed by aggregating pre-1974 local authority areas. The variation in the numbers of deaths observed about the numbers expected was assessed using log-linear models to estimate the effect on the relative risk in each district associated with social class, rural status, population size, health authority region and proximity to one of 15 nuclear installations. Trends in risk with increasing proximity to an installation (as judged by the proportion of the population resident within 10 miles) were examined after adjustment for the other four variables. The results showed that in districts near to an installation there were significant excess mortalities in persons under 25 years of age from leukaemia (RR = 1.15, P = 0.01) and especially from lymphoid leukaemia (RR 1.21, P = 0.01) and from Hodgkin's disease (RR 1.24, P = 0.05) and a significant deficiency of mortality from lymphoid leukaemia in persons aged 25-64 years. No significant trends were observed with an increasing proportion of the population near to the installations and the greatest excess mortality from lymphoid leukaemia in young persons was observed in the districts with the intermediate proportion of the population (10.0-65.9%) near an installation
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