1,071 research outputs found
A comparison of pefloxacin/metronidazole and doxycycline/metronidazole in the treatment of laparoscopically confirmed acute pelvic inflammatory disease
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Decoherence in Disordered Conductors at Low Temperatures, the effect of Soft Local Excitations
The conduction electrons' dephasing rate, , is expected to
vanish with the temperature. A very intriguing apparent saturation of this
dephasing rate in several systems was recently reported at very low
temperatures. The suggestion that this represents dephasing by zero-point
fluctuations has generated both theoretical and experimental controversies. We
start by proving that the dephasing rate must vanish at the limit,
unless a large ground state degeneracy exists. This thermodynamic proof
includes most systems of relevance and it is valid for any determination of
from {\em linear} transport measurements. In fact, our
experiments demonstrate unequivocally that indeed when strictly linear
transport is used, the apparent low-temperature saturation of is
eliminated. However, the conditions to be in the linear transport regime are
more strict than hitherto expected. Another novel result of the experiments is
that introducing heavy nonmagnetic impurities (gold) in our samples produces,
even in linear transport, a shoulder in the dephasing rate at very low
temperatures. We then show theoretically that low-lying local defects may
produce a relatively large dephasing rate at low temperatures. However, as
expected, this rate in fact vanishes when , in agreement with our
experimental observations.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the Euresco Conference on Fundamental
Problems of Mesoscopic Physics, Granada, September 2003, Kluwe
Українська діаспора Кабардино-Балкарії
Кабардино-Балкарська республіка – суб’єкт Російської Федерації. За даними статистичного управління за 2000 рік, у республіці проживало близько 15 тисяч етнічних українців. З них в Нальчику - 5725 чоловік
A 10-year cohort analysis of routine paediatric ART data in a rural South African setting
South Africa’s paediatric antiretroviral therapy (ART) programme is managed using a
monitoring and evaluation tool known as TIER.Net. This electronic system has several
advantages over paper-based systems, allowing profiling of the paediatric ART programme over
time. We analysed anonymized TIER.Net data for HIV-infected children aged <15 years who
had initiated ART in a rural district of South Africa between 2005 and 2014. We performed
Kaplan–Meier survival analysis to assess outcomes over time. Records of 5461 children were
available for analysis; 3593 (66%) children were retained in care. Losses from the programme
were higher in children initiated on treatment in more recent years (P < 0·0001) and in children
aged ≤1 year at treatment initiation (P < 0·0001). For children aged <3 years, abacavir was
associated with a significantly higher rate of loss from the programme compared to stavudine
(hazard ratio 1·9, P < 0·001). Viral load was suppressed in 48–52% of the cohort, with no
significant change over the years (P = 0·398). Analysis of TIER.Net data over time provides
enhanced insights into the performance of the paediatric ART programme and highlights
interventions to improve programme performance.This study was funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Cooperative Agreement number 674-A-12-00015 to the Anova Health Institute.http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=HYGhb2016Microbiology and Plant Patholog
Conductance of Mesoscopic Systems with Magnetic Impurities
We investigate the combined effects of magnetic impurities and applied
magnetic field on the interference contribution to the conductance of
disordered metals. We show that in a metal with weak spin-orbit interaction,
the polarization of impurity spins reduces the rate of electron phase
relaxation, thus enhancing the weak localization correction to conductivity.
Magnetic field also suppresses thermal fluctuations of magnetic impurities,
leading to a recovery of the conductance fluctuations. This recovery occurs
regardless the strength of the spin-orbit interaction. We calculate the
magnitudes of the weak localization correction and of the mesoscopic
conductance fluctuations at an arbitrary level of the spin polarization induced
by a magnetic field. Our analytical results for the ``'' Aharonov-Bohm
conductance oscillations in metal rings can be used to extract spin and
gyromagnetic factor of magnetic impurities from existing experimental data.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure
Evaluating the function of wildcat faecal marks in relation to the defence of favourable hunting areas
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Ethology Ecology and Evolution on 2015, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/03949370.2014.905499To date, there have been no studies of carnivores that have been specifically designed to examine the function of scent marks in trophic resource defence, although several chemical communication studies have discussed other functions of these marks. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that faecal marks deposited by wildcats (Felis silvestris) serve to defend their primary trophic resource, small mammals. Field data were collected over a 2-year period in a protected area in northwestern Spain. To determine the small mammal abundance in different habitat types, a seasonal live trapping campaign was undertaken in deciduous forests, mature pine forests and scrublands. In each habitat, we trapped in three widely separated Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) cells. At the same time that the trapping was being performed, transects were conducted on foot along forest roads in each trapping cell and in one adjacent cell to detect fresh wildcat scats that did or did not have a scent-marking function. A scat was considered to have a presumed marking function when it was located on a conspicuous substrate, above ground level, at a crossroad or in a latrine. The number of faecal marks and the small mammal abundance varied by habitat type but not by seasons. The results of the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated that small mammal abundance and habitat type were the factors that explained the largest degrees of variation in the faecal marking index (number of faecal marks in each cell/number of kilometres surveyed in each cell). This result suggests that wildcats defended favourable hunting areas. They mark most often where their main prey lives and so where they spend the most time hunting (in areas where their main prey is more abundant). This practice would allow wildcats to protect their main trophic resource and would reduce intraspecific trophic competitio
The effects of stakeholder integration on firm-level product innovativeness: Insights from small and medium-sized enterprises in Ghana
In spite of growing research on the influence of external stakeholders on firm outcomes, there is a paucity of research on how they influence innovation in emerging economies. In addition, the specific environmental factors that may influence the effect of stakeholder integration (SI) on firm innovation is less understood. Using data collected from 248 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana, this paper develops and tests a model that examines the relationship between SI and firm-level product innovativeness. The findings from the study indicate SI positively relates to product innovativeness. Moreover, under conditions of higher competitor pressure and greater customer expectations, the effect of SI on product innovativeness is amplified. Contributions for theory and practice are discussed
Gravitational radiation from gamma-ray bursts as observational opportunities for LIGO and VIRGO
Gamma-ray bursts are believed to originate in core-collapse of massive stars.
This produces an active nucleus containing a rapidly rotating Kerr black hole
surrounded by a uniformly magnetized torus represented by two counter-oriented
current rings. We quantify black hole spin-interactions with the torus and
charged particles along open magnetic flux-tubes subtended by the event
horizon. A major output of Egw=4e53 erg is radiated in gravitational waves of
frequency fgw=500 Hz by a quadrupole mass-moment in the torus. Consistent with
GRB-SNe, we find (i) Ts=90s (tens of s, Kouveliotou et al. 1993), (ii)
aspherical SNe of kinetic energy Esn=2e51 erg (2e51 erg in SN1998bw, Hoeflich
et al. 1999) and (iii) GRB-energies Egamma=2e50 erg (3e50erg in Frail et al.
2001). GRB-SNe occur perhaps about once a year within D=100Mpc. Correlating
LIGO/Virgo detectors enables searches for nearby events and their spectral
closure density 6e-9 around 250Hz in the stochastic background radiation in
gravitational waves. At current sensitivity, LIGO-Hanford may place an upper
bound around 150MSolar in GRB030329. Detection of Egw thus provides a method
for identifying Kerr black holes by calorimetry.Comment: to appear in PRD, 49
Enhanced Ca(2+) signaling, mild primary aldosteronism, and hypertension in a familial hyperaldosteronism mouse model (Cacna1h(M1560V/+))
Gain-of-function mutations in the CACNA1H gene (encoding the T-type calcium channel Ca(V)3.2) cause autosomal-dominant familial hyperaldosteronism type IV (FH-IV) and early-onset hypertension in humans. We used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate Cacna1h(M1560V/+) knockin mice as a model of the most common FH-IV mutation, along with corresponding knockout mice (Cacna1h(-/-)). Adrenal morphology of both Cacna1h(M1560V/+) and Cacna1h(-/-) mice was normal. Cacna1h(M1560V/+) mice had elevated aldosterone:renin ratios (a screening parameter for primary aldosteronism). Their adrenal Cyp11b2 (aldosterone synthase) expression was increased and remained elevated on a high-salt diet (relative autonomy, characteristic of primary aldosteronism), but plasma aldosterone was only elevated in male animals. The systolic blood pressure of Cacna1h(M1560V/+) mice was 8 mmHg higher than in wild-type littermates and remained elevated on a high-salt diet. Cacna1h(-/-) mice had elevated renal Ren1 (renin-1) expression but normal adrenal Cyp11b2 levels, suggesting that in the absence of Ca(V)3.2, stimulation of the renin-angiotensin system activates alternative calcium entry pathways to maintain normal aldosterone production. On a cellular level, Cacna1h(M1560V/+) adrenal slices showed increased baseline and peak intracellular calcium concentrations in the zona glomerulosa compared to controls, but the frequency of calcium spikes did not rise. We conclude that FH-IV, on a molecular level, is caused by elevated intracellular Ca(2+) concentrations as a signal for aldosterone production in adrenal glomerulosa cells. We demonstrate that a germline Cacna1h gain-of-function mutation is sufficient to cause mild primary aldosteronism, whereas loss of Ca(V)3.2 channel function can be compensated for in a chronic setting
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