8,012 research outputs found
The midwife factor in obstetric procedures and neonatal outcome
Aims. In the face of major tendency towards midwiferyled-care it was our purpose to investigate the extent of the influence of the midwife on the rates of obstetric procedures and perinatal outcome. Methods. 5384 consecutive deliveries at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. University of Graz, were enrolled in the study. The following data were collected: mode of delivery, pH of umbilical artery, Apgar score. Firstly, data were investigated for interindividual differences and, secondly, for relationship with age of the midwife as a measure of experience. Results. Interindividual differences were significant for episiotomy rates (minimum: 31.6%; maximum 76.9%; p<0.001), forceps rates (minimum: 1.7%; maximum 11.1%;p=0.002) and pH of umbilical arteries (minimum: 7.21:maxinium: 7.28 p=0.001) but not for cesarean section rates and Apgar scores. Linear regression analysis was significant between age of midwives and pH of umbilical arteries (p<0.001: r=0.055) and for one-minute Apgar score (p=0.009; r=0.050) but not for episiotomy rates, cesarean section rates, forceps rates and five-minutes Apgar score. Conclusions. There are large interindividual differences in obstetric intervention rates which cannot be explained by the midwives' age. Provision of health care should be primarily determined by need and not by the personal characteristics of the health care provider, thus interindividual differences should be reduced and more often taken into account when analyzing any kind of data
Phase closure nulling of HD 59717 with AMBER/VLTI . Detection of the close faint companion
Aims: The detection of close and faint companions is an essential step in
many astrophysical fields, including the search for planetary companions. A new
method called "phase closure nulling" has been proposed for the detection of
such faint and close companions based on interferometric observations when the
system visibility amplitude is close to zero due to the large diameter of the
primary star. We aim at demonstrating this method by analyzing observations
obtained on the spectroscopic binary HD 59717. Methods: Using the AMBER/VLTI
instrument in the K-band with ~1500 spectral resolution, we record the
spectrally dispersed closures phases of the SB1 binary HD 59717 with a
three-baseline combination adequate for applying phase closure methods. After a
careful data reduction, we fit the primary diameter, the binary flux ratio, and
the separation using the phase closure data. Results: We detect the 5-mag
fainter companion of HD 59717 at a distance of 4 stellar radii from the
primary. We determine the diameter of the primary, infer the secondary's
spectral type and determine the masses and sizes of the stars in the binary
system. This is one of the highest contrasts detected by interferometry between
a companion and its parent star. Based on observations collected at the
European Southern Observatory, Paranal, Chile, within the commissioning
programme 60.A-9054(A)
Identification of Cohesive Ends and Genes Encoding the Terminase of Phage 16-3
Cohesive ends of 16-3, a temperate phage of Rhizobium meliloti 41, have been identified as 10-base-long, 3′-protruding complementary G/C-rich sequences. terS and terL encode the two subunits of 16-3 terminase. Significant homologies were detected among the terminase subunits of phage 16-3 and other phages from various ecosystems
Local pressure-induced metallization of a semiconducting carbon nanotube in a crossed junction
The electronic and vibrational density of states of a semiconducting carbon
nanotube in a crossed junction was investigated by elastic and inelastic
scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The strong radial compression of the nanotube
at the junction induces local metallization spatially confined to a few nm. The
local electronic modifications are correlated with the observed changes in the
radial breathing and G-band phonon modes, which react very sensitively to local
mechanical deformation. In addition, the experiments reveal the crucial
contribution of the image charges to the contact potential at nanotube-metal
interfaces
Shuttle flight pressure instrumentation: Experience and lessons for the future
Flight data obtained from the Space Transportation System orbiter entries are processed and analyzed to assess the accuracy and performance of the Development Flight Instrumentation (DFI) pressure measurement system. Selected pressure measurements are compared with available wind tunnel and computational data and are further used to perform air data analyses using the Shuttle Entry Air Data System (SEADS) computation technique. The results are compared to air data from other sources. These comparisons isolate and demonstrate the effects of the various limitations of the DFI pressure measurement system. The effects of these limitations on orbiter performance analyses are addressed, and instrumentation modifications are recommended to improve the accuracy of similar fight data systems in the future
Kondo effect of Co adatoms on Ag monolayers on noble metal surfaces
The Kondo temperature of single Co adatoms on monolayers of Ag on Cu
and Au(111) is determined using Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy. of Co on
a single monolayer of Ag on either substrate is essentially the same as that of
Co on a homogenous Ag(111) crystal. This gives strong evidence that the
interaction of surface Kondo impurities with the substrate is very local in
nature. By comparing found for Co on Cu, Ag, and Au (111)-surfaces we
show that the energy scale of the many-electron Kondo state is insensitive to
the properties of surface states and to the energetic position of the projected
bulk band edges.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Controlling quantum systems by embedded dynamical decoupling schemes
A dynamical decoupling method is presented which is based on embedding a
deterministic decoupling scheme into a stochastic one. This way it is possible
to combine the advantages of both methods and to increase the suppression of
undesired perturbations of quantum systems significantly even for long
interaction times. As a first application the stabilization of a quantum memory
is discussed which is perturbed by one-and two-qubit interactions
NASA metrology information system: A NEMS subsystem
the NASA Metrology Information Systems (NMIS) is being developed as a standardized tool in managing the NASA field Center's instrument calibration programs. This system, as defined by the NASA Metrology and Calibration Workshop, will function as a subsystem of the newly developed NASA Equipment Management System (NEMS). The Metrology Information System is designed to utilize and update applicable NEMS data fields for controlled property and to function as a stand alone system for noncontrolled property. The NMIS provides automatic instrument calibration recall control, instrument historical performance data storage and analysis, calibration and repair labor and parts cost data, and instrument user and location data. Nineteen standardized reports were developed to analyze calibration system operations
Origin of Rashba-splitting in the quantized subbands at Bi2Se3 surface
We study the band structure of the topological
insulator (111) surface using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We
examine the situation where two sets of quantized subbands exhibiting different
Rashba spin-splitting are created via bending of the conduction (CB) and the
valence (VB) bands at the surface. While the CB subbands are strongly Rashba
spin-split, the VB subbands do not exhibit clear spin-splitting. We find that
CB and VB experience similar band bending magnitudes, which means, a
spin-splitting discrepancy due to different surface potential gradients can be
excluded. On the other hand, by comparing the experimental band structure to
first principles LMTO band structure calculations, we find that the strongly
spin-orbit coupled Bi 6 orbitals dominate the orbital character of CB,
whereas their admixture to VB is rather small. The spin-splitting discrepancy
is, therefore, traced back to the difference in spin-orbit coupling between CB
and VB in the respective subbands' regions
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